It’s confirmed: Nissan is making a return to FIA GT racing. The news came from Nissan Motors Australia Managing Director and CEO Dan Thompson at the press day of the 2009 Melbourne Motor Show.

GTRBlog reports Nissan will submit the R35 Nissan GT-R into the FIA GT 2010 Championship series while British company Gigawave MotorSports will be teaming up with NISMO on an non-championship entry to check, test and develop the racing GT-R.

The specs on race-ready GT-R haven’t been officially revealed, but there’s a possibility that NISMO will drop the twin-turbo’d V6 in favor of the 4.5-liter VK45D8 V8. Output is estimated to be between 540-590 hp and 450-500 lb-ft of torque, with a curb weight as low as 3,000 pounds.

NISSAN NEWS RELEASE

Announcement on Global Motorsports Activities for 2009TOKYO (February 27, 2009) – Nissan Motor Co. Ltd. and Nissan Motorsports International Co., Ltd. (NISMO) today announced their global motorsport programme for 2009.

For 2009, Nissan continues to participate in the SUPER GT series, GT500 class, which is the highest level in Japanese domestic motorsports, with the Nissan GT-R. Nissan will also support grassroots activities in select countries outside of Japan to help nurture the motorsports culture, which has millions of fans throughout the world.

“Motorsports is an important part of Nissan’s strategy for building a strong brand with consumers who share our passion for high-performance driving,” said Carlos Tavares, Executive Vice President, Nissan Motor Co. Ltd. “In addition to being an important touch-point for consumers, motorsports serve as a dynamic proving ground for automotive innovation.”

1. SUPER GT

Vehicles
The R35 model Nissan GT-R will be entered in the GT500 class of SUPER GT.
This year’s entries will incorporate changes that include an improved air-cooling system and a paddle-shift transmission. The vehicles also conform to the racing body’s latest regulation changes to decrease down force through shortened vehicle overhang. NISMO provides technical assistance and vehicle development to all participating teams.

Team Composition
This year’s line-up of NISMO, HASEMI MOTORSPORT, TEAM IMPUL and KONDO RACING will deploy 1 car each for a total of 4 Nissan GT-Rs that will race in the GT500 class series. Kunihiko Kakimoto remains as general manager in charge of Nissan related teams with the NISMO team managed by Yutaka Suzuki. HASEMI MOTOR SPORT team welcomes to its roster Hironobu Yasuda, who trained in the rigorous Nissan Driver Development Program (NDDP).
Car
No: Entrant: Team Manager: Drivers: Vehicle Name: Tyre Maker:
1 NISMO Yutaka Suzuki Satoshi Motoyama / Benoit Treluyer MOTUL AUTECH GT-R Bridgestone
3 HASEMI MOTOR SPORT Masahiro Hasemi Ronnie Quintarelli / Hironobu Yasuda TBA Michelin
12 TEAM IMPUL Kazuyoshi Hoshino Tsugio Matsuda / Sebastien Philippe IMPUL Calsonic GT-R Bridgestone
24 KONDO RACING Masahiko Kondo João Paulo de Oliveira / Seiji Ara HIS ADVAN KONDO GT-R Yokohama

2. Private racers category
1. March Cup series
Providing amateur racers a chance to experience the thrill of auto racing, Nissan holds the March Cup races (East Japan Series, West Japan Series, Nissan March Championship Cup). This pits private racers with actual racing conditions, with each car equipped with a data logger and GPS to record the racing lines taken by drivers. As previously announced, 2009 is the final run for the March Cup series.
2. Japanese domestic private teams
1. SUPER GT GT300 class
Technical assistance will be given to private teams competing in Fairlady Zs.
2. Super Taikyu series
Technical assistance will be given to private teams competing in Fairlady Zs in both ST1 and ST3 classes.
3. Global Race activities

China
Aiming for a 3rd championship win, Nissan and NISMO will provide technical assistance to its China partner Dongfeng Motor Co., Ltd., which enters its Nissan Tiidas in the 1600cc Class of the China Circuit Championship (CCC). The event is the country’s premier domestic racing event, where locally manufactured production-based race cars compete. Nissan Tiida won the title in 2006 and 2008.

South Africa
With 8 consecutive Driver’s championship wins, Nissan seeks to retain its title in the South Africa Off-Road Championship. Dominating the event will be the Nissan Navara, well known for its controlled performance and rugged reliability.

Europe
To check the performance of cars to be sold to racing teams competing in the FIA-GT1 class, a NISMO-developed car will run as a non-championship entry in 4 races in 2009, entered in a team partnership with Gigawave MotorSport. It is expected that the car is to be driven by Michael Krumm (NISMO) and Darren Turner (Gigawave).

Gigawave MotorSport, a racing team based in county Essex, England, has been competing in the FIA GT Championship since 2007. The team’s parent company Gigawave Ltd., as an official partner of the FIA GT Championship, provides on-board cameras for real-time coverage of the races.

[AutoBlog via GT-RBlog]