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During an extraordinary press conference in London today, Friday 23rd May, Andy Palmer, Nissan’s Chief Planning Office & Executive Vice-President Soichi Miyatani, Nismo President and Darren Cox Nissan marketing and sales manager in the company of Pierre Fillon, the Automobile Club de l’Ouest President, announced Nissan’s comeback in 2015.

Next season the manufacturer will enter two Nissan GT-R LM NISMOs in the LM P1 category in the Le Mans 24 Hours and also in the full FIA World Endurance Championship of which the ACO is the organiser and promoter.

The Renault-Nissan alliance, the fourth biggest car manufacturer in the world, will come to battle for victory in the overall classification at Le Mans with the two world leaders in the car market, Toyota and the VAG Group represented by Audi and Porsche.

This prestigious return, further proof of the attraction of endurance racing which the ACO has been promoting since 1923 with the creation of the Le Mans 24 Hours, shows an interest that is gaining ground among the major manufacturers in the car industry thanks to the new technical regulations in the blue riband category, Le Mans Prototypes 1 – LM P1.

Nissan entered for Le Mans for the first time in 1986 and came back until 1999 apart from a short 3-year break between 1991-1993. In 2011, the make returned as an engine supplier in the LM P2 category (two category victories in 2011 and 2013) and then supported the DeltaWing project in 2012 before entering its ZEOD in the context of the 56th garage this year.

There’s no doubt that the amazing-looking ZEOD, which will race at Le Mans on 14-15 June outside the overall classification, prefigures the innovative technical solutions that Nissan will employ on its future Nissan GT-R NISMO.

Pierre Fillon, President of the Automobile Club de l’Ouest: “Nissan’s return to Le Mans is great news. It’s obviously going to boost the interest in the Le Mans 24 Hours and the endurance world championship. In 2013 we had two major manufacturers with Audi and Toyota; this year there are three. Nissan’s return is proof that our new technical regulations for the LM P1 category are very attractive for the greatest makes in the world. These regulations allow car manufacturers to come to Le Mans and test new technologies which, tomorrow, will be applied to road-going vehicles. Thus they’re really doing the job they were designed for.”

Vincent Beaumesnil, Automobile Club de l’Ouest’s Sport Manager: “Nissan’s return proves not only that our new LM P1 regulations correspond to what the manufacturers are looking for, but it also shows the interest of the 56th garage. This enables them to come and measure themselves, practice and prepare by racing in the Le Mans 24 Hours outside the overall classification. The conditions that authorised Nissan to enter in 2014 were that it would come into LM P1 in the future and this undertaking has been respected. The 56th garage has fulfilled its role in exemplary fashion.”