The New Nissan Z Is Going Racing At Fuji

May. 01, 2022 2:01 PM ET by Chase Bierenkoven Motorsport / Comments

It'll compete in the Fuji 24 endurance race.

Nissan has a very long and storied involvement in motorsports. At pretty much any point in the company's history, cars like the new Nissan Z can be found both in showrooms and on the track. Of course, the best example of that is the blue Calsonic R32 Nissan GT-R that dominated Australian touring car racing in the 90s. Nissan is certainly hoping for a repeat here, only on home soil.

Nissan's NISMO team announced that the new Z will be going racing. Modified versions of the street car will be used the NISMO team and the Max Racing squad in the ST-Q class. That's largely because these cars don't conform to any specific regulations. However, that does tell us a bit about what Nissan plans to be doing with the new Z racers.

This reads as a bit of the litmus test for the latest iteration of the sports car. We know that the car will compete alongside the Toyota Supra in Super GT, and will serve as a replacement for the GT-R GT racing car. The Fuji 24 effort is just as much about winning as it is evaluating the Z's performance potential. Endurance racing is arguably the most brutal form of motorsport, and there's no better crucible for testing go-fast bits than over 24hrs of hard racing.

That tells us Nissan is looking to evaluate the car for other forms of motorsport, like GT3 and GT4 racing categories. Without explicitly confirming GT3 and GT4 entries, Nissan has said it'll use the new Z to "investigate the possibility of using the Z in various motorsport categories" and will be "aiming to use a tough 24-hour race such as this to forge an exciting racing car worthy of the Z moniker."

Unfortunately, there's no technical specs for the new race car available right now. Some of the exterior changes give some hints, however. Lighter and likely wider wheels look to cover some upgraded brakes, and a wing at the back should provide some solid downforce figures. Of course, most, if not all, of the interior is gone with a roll cage living in its place. So, it'll at least be lighter and stickier.

Given the class the car will run in, it's tough to say what power figures are. At a bare minimum, we know the car will make more power than the 400 hp street-spec Nissan Z. Hopefully we have those figures soon so we can evaluate the tuning potential of this new twin-turbo V6.

The New Nissan Z Is Going Racing At Fuji

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The New Nissan Z Is Going Racing At Fuji

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