Photo : Nissan

 

In 1990, the Groupe C class peaked. Mercedes, Jaguar, Porsche, Toyota, Mazda and Nissan duked it out in spectacular battles at the World Sportscar Championship circuits as well as at the 24 Hours of Le Mans, a race outside of the championship. For Nissan, whose international development had just begun, the stated objective was unequivocal and the sports program put in place had to facilitate the fast accumulation of major victories. With a level of preparation that had not stopped improving since 1983, the manufacturer's ambitions appeared legitimate at the beginning of the new endurance season. For this, two competing departments were commissioned to replace the aging R89C that was too "Le Mans."

To head up its offensive and crush its opponents, Nissan spared no expense. Milton Keynes' Nissan Motorsport, in close collaboration with Lola, designed and produced the R90CK model whose aeordynamic configuration was adapted at the sprint races of the World Championship. In Japan, NISMO engineers and technicians took the lead on the creation of the R90CP model that would serve in the Sport-Prototypes Championship of Japan. The two cars of very different forms were nonetheless both powered by the same 3.5L V8 bi-Turbo engine whose performances had been quite convincing in 1989. The driver line-ups were eclectic and brought together fast and experienced drivers. In the World Championship, Julian Bailey, Kenny Acheson, Mark Blundell and Gianfranco Brancatelli would drive the R90CKs while Masahiro Hasemi, Toshio Suzuki, Kazuyoshi Hoshino and Anders Olofsson would share the R90CPs. The cars were painted in the official colours and carried the logos of historic sponsors of the marque, and so, the 1990 season could get underway...

Still too green for the inaugural lap at Suzuka, the R90CKs globally debuted at the Monza 480 km. At the Italian autodrome, the results of that first appearance were mixed, with a seventh place finish of the No. 23 and the retirement of the No. 24 after running out of fuel. On the other hand, at the Mt. Fuji circuit, the competition was clearly less fierce than in Europe and the two R90CPs entered finished second and fourth for their first official appearance in the JSPC (Japan Sports Prototype Championship).

Up until Le Mans, the performances in the World Championship proved the R90CK's capabilities in sprint races, namely with a podium finish at Spa-Francorchamps for the duo Bailey/Acheson, whereas NISMO was unable to confirm the potential of the R90CPs following the cancellation of the second round on the Japanese calendar, the Interchallenge Fuji 1,000 km. That first part of the season was encouraging and permitted Nissan executives to approach Le Mans week with a certain peace. Determined, they greatly coveted the prestige and overall impact of a victory at the 24 Hours of Le Mans. In La Sarthe, the means utilized were colossal and the flood of material expected already impressed observers. Five official cars were awaited at the technical and administrative verifications...

Even before the first practice, the balance of power clearly seemed to be in Nissan's favour, answering to Porsche and Jaguar's experience with its intimidating delegation. The evening of qualifying, the overwhelming demonstration of the Japanese prototypes was confirmed.

PART 2 coming soon...

Pierre-Yves Riom / ACO - Translation by Nikki Ehrhardt / ACO