Nissan has whipped the covers off its brand-new contender for next year’s Australian V8 Supercars Championship, the 2013 Altima Supercar V8 Supercar, during a special event on Tuesday morning in Melbourne.
The Nissan Altima will be the first new entry in the series that has been restricted to Ford Falcons and Holden Commodores for the past two decades.
The Japanese carmaker has partnered with Kelly Racing and will field four entries under the Nissan Motorsport banner for the 2013 championship.
“This is the first time in 20 years that Nissan is back in this category,” said Kelly, according to the Herald Sun. “Factory support is the key to teams winning Bathurst and V8 Supercar championships. There’s nothing more exciting for a drive than to unveil a car with a brand new chassis that takes it to a new level.”
Nissan, which last raced in the Australian Touring Car Championship 20 years ago, will be the only manufacturer in the series to use a production engine.
The racing Altima, which features the body of the latest generation model, gets a Nismo-prepped version of Nissan’s VK56 V8 engine that powers the Nissan Titan, Armada and Pathfinder, as well as the Infiniti QX and the Australian market 2013 Patrol SUV.
The NISMO-developed VK56DE powered the Nissan GT-R FIA GT1 entry to FIA GT1 World Championship victory in 2011. For the Australian racing series, however, the V8’s displacement will be reduced from 5.6-liters to 5.0-liters and will be adjusted to comply with V8 Supercars technical regulations.
Kudos to Manuel L. for the tip!
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