The Nissan GT-R LM Nismo officially ends racing career

Nissan will not be fielding a LMP1 car in next year's FIA World Endurance Championship after officially announcing their withdrawal from the race category.

The company will instead focus on further developing their long term strategies in motor sports. The racing team had been working diligently on the LMP1 vehicles, but the company ultimately decided that the cars will not be able to reach peak performance come race day.

Despite the setback, Nissan will continue its support of WEC through various engine programs, including the new LMP3 engine.

Last year, Nissan joined the LMP1 class with the GT-R LM Nismo. Billed by the automaker as a new and bold concept, the GT-R LM deviated from the norm. The cockpit has been moved significantly towards the rear while the engine dominates the front section of the car.

Another striking feature of the car is its tire set-up. It has wider 14-inch tires at the front while the rear has slimmer 9-inch tires. According to team principal and director Ben Bowby, this makes for a more front-bias weight distribution, enabling the front tires to gather more traction.

It is driven by a 3.0-liter twin-turbo V6 that is helped along with a kinetic energy recovery system (KERS) that produces 1,267 PS. All of that power is then sent to the front wheels.

The experimental car proved to be a disappointment however after Nissan had to withdraw from last year's race due to technical problems. The onboard KERS had to be turned off and the cars only relied on engine power alone. Nissan wasn't able to keep up with the pack and decided to retire from the race.