Nissan DeltaWing a game changer

The Le Mans race car could very well change the face of endurance racing and is arguably the most radical motorsport project of its time.

The DeltaWing will be powered by a highly-advanced and efficient 1.6-litre engine when it fires its first shot in anger at the legendary Le Mans 24 Hours (16-17 June). But it will not be classified this year because the rules are behind the times.

Nissan is instead looking to showcase the pioneering technology that will show one potential direction for the future of motorsport. It will feed into the research and development of future technologies that then filter down to Nissan's road car product range.

The race-prepared, 1.6-litre, four-cylinder engine features direct petrol injection and a turbocharger. The car itself is half the weight and has half the aerodynamic drag of a conventional racer.

Nissan was invited into the DeltaWing family by the existing group of core partners US-domiciled British designer Ben Bowlby, American motorsport entrepreneur Don Panoz, the All-American Racers organisation of former US Formula 1 driver Dan Gurney, Duncan Daytons two-time championship-winning Highcroft Racing team and Michelin Tyres North America.

The engine, badged DIG-T (Direct Injection Gasoline  Turbocharged), is expected to produce around 300hp, sufficient to give Nissan DeltaWing lap times between LMP1 and LMP2 machines at Le Mans, despite having only half the power of those conventional prototypes. It features the same technology found in Nissan road cars.

As motor racing rulebooks have become tighter over time, racing cars look more and more similar and the technology used has had less and less relevance to road car development. Nissan DeltaWing aims to change that.

DeltaWing embodies a vast number of highly-innovative ideas that Nissan can learn from. Nissan DeltaWing concept originator and designer, Briton Ben Bowlby, said "Nissan has provided us with our first choice engine. Its a spectacular piece. We've got the engine of our dreams: its the right weight, has the right power and its phenomenally efficient.

Nissan DeltaWing is unlike any other racing car currently on track. The driver sits well back in the car, almost over the rear axle and looks ahead down a long, narrow fuselage to narrow twin front tyres, specially created for the car by tyre partner Michelin. With a rear-mounted engine, the car has a strong rearward weight bias, which makes it highly manoeuvrable, while its light weight and slippery shape make it far more efficient.

The Automobile Club de lOuest (ACO), organisers of the famous Le Mans 24 Hours, invited the car to run in this years race from Garage 56, the spot in the pitlane reserved for experimental cars. As it doesnt conform to any existing championship regulations.

The first two Nissan DeltaWing drivers to be confirmed are British Sportscar racer Marino Franchitti and Nissans reigning FIA GT1 World Champion Michael Krumm.