Between 1910-1920, Kenjiro Den, Rokuro Aoyama and Meitaro Takuchi founded the Kwaishinsha Motor Car Works. Its first car was called the DAT, taking the first letter from each of the creator’s surnames.
A few years later, it created a new smaller car called the Datson – quite literally meaning the ‘son of DAT’. Around the same time, a rival company is set up entitled Nippon Sangyo, with a stock market abbreviation ‘Ni-san’. I think you can see where this is heading…
Eventually, the two companies merge, initially under the Datsun umbrella, but re-branding to Nissan in 1981. In recent times, after forging an alliance with Renault, times have been a little tough for the Tokyo-based car manufacturer thanks to a lack of new models and all sorts of bizarre internal politics.
Now though, the company has relaunched, with a fresh logo and a promise of a new model onslaught. While the new cars are yet to arrive in GT Sport, the new logo is prominent in Brand Central as it arrived via an update in November.
This week’s scheduled online Daily Races offer you the chance to honour some of Nissan’s greatest hits, so without further ado, let’s jump in.
For Race A this week, you have the choice of three N300 cars and yes, you’ve guessed it, all have a Nissan connection.
Known as the 300ZX and 350Z to you and me, you can select the 1989 or 2007 Fairlady Zs (the Japanese market moniker) to race around three laps of the often-overlooked Alsace Village circuit. Alongside the two official Nissan’s, you can also select the Greddy Fugu Z – a homage to the Datsun 240Z which was a winner of the Gran Turismo Awards at the SEMA show.
Moving away from road-car racing and onto slicks and wings for Race B this week, as we are treated to five laps of the Red Bull Ring on sticky Racing Medium rubber and without tyre wear. It’ll be all action from lights to flag.
To keep the Nissan theme, we’re going for the big bruiser aka the Nissan GT-R NISMO GT3 N24 from 2013 with a natty, downloaded, GT Academy livery.
For those looking for a longer event that involves some strategy, how do 10 laps of Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps with 8x tyre wear and the mandatory use of both Racing Medium and Racing Soft tyres sound to you?
Race C also utilises the fearsome Gr.1 cars. From a Nissan perspective, that means the choice of two polarising racing vehicles. There’s the ill-fated front-wheel-drive GT-R LM NISMO from 2015 or the turbo-lag filled R92CP from 1992.
You can view the full details below and we’ll be back next week with the latest ranked Daily Races. For now, let us know on social media if you’ve managed to snag a victory in a Nissan during the latest Sport Mode events.
Don’t forget that the 2021 FIA Series is also now up and running with GT Sport.
Race A
Car: N300 Greddy Fugu Z, Nissan Fairlady Z 300ZX TT 2seater ’89 or Nissan Fairlady Z Version S (Z33) ’07
Track: Alsace – Village
Laps: Three
No. Of Cars: 12
Duration: 15 Mins
Tyres: Sports Hard
Fuel Consumption: None
Tyre Wear: None
Start Type: Grid Start
Race B
Car: Gr.3, any
Track: Red Bull Ring
Laps: Five
No. Of Cars: 16
Duration: 15 Mins
Tyres: Racing Medium
Fuel Consumption: None
Tyre Wear: None
Start Type: Rolling Start
Race C
Car: Gr.1, any
Track: Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps
Laps: 10
No. Of Cars: 20
Duration: 25 Mins
Tyres: Racing Medium and Racing Soft (mandatory use of both)
Fuel Consumption: 2x
Tyre Wear: 8x
Start Type: Rolling Start
