Nissan Motorsports is turning up the heat this year with racing support that includes a sponsorship in a newly merged high-profile series. It is a whole new world of racing this season as Nissan Motorsports joined forces with Muscle Milk Pickett Racing in the newly formed TUDOR United SportsCar Championship series. The goal is to elevate Nissan’s racing presence and return to the glory days of its sports car success on the racetrack. From 1988 to 1991, Nissan dominated U.S. sports car racing, winning four consecutive driver’s championships, three manufacturer’s titles, and 33 IMSA races. After taking back-to-back American LeMans Series championship victories in the past two years, Muscle Milk Pickett Racing began the inaugural series powered by Nissan.
The new TUDOR United SportsCar Championship series, organized by the International Motor Sports Association (IMSA), unites former racers between two existing North American Sports Car Racing series: the American LeMans Series (AMLS) and the Rolex Sports Car series. The two groups blend a field, which now will include Daytona Prototypes (DP), Le Mans Prototypes (P2), Prototype Challenge (PC), GT cars built to the Le Mans specifications (GTLM) and the GT Daytona division that is Grand-Am GT, GX and former ALMS GTC cars.
As part of the NISMO Global Driver Exchange, racers from Nissan’s squad of international drivers will compete alongside Muscle Milk Pickett Racing’s Lucas Luhr and Klaus Graf. Luhr is no stranger to Nissan as he won the GT1 World Championship aboard a Nissan GT-R with Michael Krumm back in 2011. He teams with co-driver Klaus Graf in the No. 6 Muscle Milk Pickett Racing Morgan/Nissan in the P class.
The Rolex 24 at Daytona
Nissan P2 World Endurance Championship regular Alex Brundle joined the team for the Rolex 24 at Daytona. The young, British driver is aiming to follow in the footsteps of his father, Martin Brundle, who won the American round-the-clock endurance classic 26 years ago. The Rolex 24 at Daytona was Brundle’s first opportunity to participate in a major U.S. championship event. The second-generation racer drove for OAK Racing in 2013 in the FIA World Endurance Championship and finished second in both the championship and at the 24 Hours of Le Mans in the LM P2 class.
Action Express Racing broke through to claim victory in the 52nd Rolex 24 at Daytona, the opening round of the new TUDOR United SportsCar Championship. The Muscle Milk ORECA-Nissan team of Lucas Luhr, Klaus Graf and Alex Brundle came in strong with a hard-earned fifth place at the Rolex 24 at Daytona. French entry OAK Racing’s Morgan-Nissan car driven by Olivier Pla, Gustavo Yacaman, and Alex Brundle came in eighth overall and sixth in class, garnering valuable points to move forward to tracks better suited for the P2-style race cars.
The 12 Hours of Sebring
The No. 42 OAK Racing Nissan-Morgan driven by Alex Brundle, Olivier Pla and Gustavo Yacaman brought home a fourth-place finish in the Mobil 1 12 Hours of Sebring, the second round of the TUDOR United SportsCar Championship.
The Nissan-powered Prototypes showed they will be a force to be reckoned with in the TUDOR United SportsCar Championship after demonstrating raceleading pace during the 12 Hours of Sebring. In contrast to the Rolex 24 and the 12 Hours of Sebring, the two longest races in the championship, the race at Long Beach was a 100-minute sprint.
Long Beach, California 100-Minute Sprint
The 100-minute sprint and third event of the TUDOR United SportsCar Championship calendar took place on the 1.968-mile, 11-turn temporary street circuit. The race featured 21 entrants from the Prototype and GTLM categories and was a caution-free race.
The team of Pla and Yacaman started the race in fourth position and were able to finish fourth.
Muscle Milk Pickett Racing ended its P2 chassis effort and exited the Tudor Championship after two rounds. Drivers Klaus Graf and Lucas Luhr remained under contract with the MMPR team.
Laguna Seca, Monterey, California
Round Four wrapped up at the Continental Tire Monterey Grand Prix on May 4th. The team of Ed Brown and polewinner Johannes Van Overbeck took the first victory for a P2 Prototype in the No. 2 Tequila Patron HPD AXX-03b/Honda.
No. 42 Oak Racing Morgan-Nissan LM P2 finished ninth at Laguna Seca. Just 45 minutes into the race, the team was involved in an on-track collision. They were able to fix the car and returned to the race seven laps down.
The Raceway at Detroit-Belle Isle Park
The OAK Racing Nissan-Morgan team of Gustavo Yacaman and Olivier Pla scored its first podium finish at Detroit Belle Isle.
Kansas Speedway
At the Grand Prix of Kansas Jon Bennett and Colin Braun driving the No. 54 CORE autosport ORECA FLM09 combined for the victory. The field included the Prototype Challenge machines and the IMSA Cooper Tires Prototype Lites.
