Malaysian Motor Works

Nissan Motorsports International Co., Ltd (Nismo), is proud to announce its participation in this weekend’s Malaysia Merdeka Endurance Race 2013 [MMER 2013] which will be held at the Sepang International Circuit from the 30th August till 1st September 2013. This is the first time that Nismo, partnering with ETCM, will be taking part in the annual endurance event which has been run since 2000. The MMER is one of the premier local Malaysian events with strong international recognition. A total of 12 teams from Japan, Italy, Singapore, Australia, Hong Kong as well as Malaysia will be competing under the GT3 category. Through the Nismo Global Driver Exchange programme which was launched in July, Katsumasa Chiyo (Japan) from the stable of Nismo Super GT drivers will team up together with two selected drivers from the GT Academy; Wolfgang Reip (Belgium) and Mark Shulzhitskiy (Russia) to compete as part of the new Nismo Athlete Global Team in the Sepang 12-hours Race [MMER 2013].

Wolfgang (Belgium) and Mark (Russia) are both selected from the GT Academy, which is a programme from Nissan and Sony Computer Entertainment that uses the Gran Turismo virtual racing game to identify talented gamers and develop them into real racers. During the race, they will mount their challenge in a Nissan GT-R Nismo GT3 which is Nismo’s new race car developed in line with FIA GT3 regulations. Nismo’s participation in the MMER is to further enhance its brand awareness and reinforce its motorsports technologies in Malaysia.

The car’s VR38DETT V6 Twin Turbocharged motor unleashes a maximum 405 kw (550ps) of horsepower and maximum torque of 637Nm (65.0kgfm). Standard equipment includes a six speed sequential manual gearbox, semi-automatic paddle shift and adjustable steering wheel. As mandated by FIA GT3 rules, the car is rear-wheel-drive. The 2013 year model pushes engine output performance to new limits based on a thorough re-setting of camshaft timing, with considerable reinforcement of the moving parts to guarantee durability. Several modifications were made to enhance aerodynamics: canards which were added to the front as well as larger louvers to the front fender. The positioning of the rear wing was optimized. These changes have increased down force and enhanced overall aerodynamic efficiency, achieving greater balance between the front and rear end forces. The suspension setting was re-worked to accommodate both a greatly refined brake force distribution and the improvements to aerodynamics. Optimization of the gear ratios has consolidated the engine output improvements, making the car one of the most competitive in the field.

“The Nissan GT-R Nismo GT3 is developed by Nismo, the only Japanese-produced GT3 spec machine. We think it’s capable of competing at the same level as the powerful cars from its European and American counterparts,” said Mr. Toshikazu Tanaka, the Corporate Vice President of Nismo.