Nissan’s DeltaWing returns to the country it was built in; scores its first finish.
Mission accomplished! The Nissan DeltaWing had one goal entering its North American debut at Petit Le Mans: Score a race finish. Truly an International project, the Nissan-powered, Dan Gurney AAR-built racecar was driven by Nissan’s first GT Academy graduate, Lucas Ordonez with American Gunnar Jeannette sharing the driving.
The team, below, not only completed the 1,000-mile journey at Road Atlanta, but American Gunnar Jeannette and Spaniard Lucas Ordoñez demonstrated stunning pace throughout the race to finish Fifth in the endurance classic.
Running Unclassified as an invitational entry for the final round of the American Le Mans Series, the Nissan DeltaWing team was forced to start off the back of the grid and subsequently lost additional position by missing out on a number safety car "wave arounds" throughout the race. The unique turbochaged 1.6-liter Nissan DIG-T-powered machine eventually crossed the line three laps down from the P2 class-winning car.
Jeannette started the race for the DeltaWing squad and immediately began a charge through the pack, passing eight cars on the opening lap. By the time he handed over to Ordoñez, the #0 car had moved up to Eighth position out of the 42-car field. Ordoñez took over and completed a triple stint, handing back to Jeannette from Third overall.
The Michelin tire-equipped DeltaWing continued to show incredible endurance when Jeannette returned to the wheel - this time completing a quadruple stint without changing tires.
Ordoñez took over for the final 110 laps, bringing the car across the line in Sixth place. The team gained a further position after the checkered flag when a P2 car was excluded due to a driver exceeding the maximum drive time permitted.
Today's performance was made even more remarkable considering the team had to completely rebuild the car, above, on Wednesday after Jeannette was forced into a dramatic rollover in testing when struck by a GTC-class Porsche!
Featuring half the weight, half the horsepower and half the aerodynamic drag of a typical Le Mans sportscar, the DeltaWing captured the imagination of fans and media alike at its race debut at this year's 24 Hours of Le Mans. Sadly, the car was forced out after six hours due to contact with another prototype. This established a target for the Nissan DeltaWing team for Petit Le Mans. Just getting to the race finish was that target, one that was achieved with flying colors!
For more DeltaWing information and technical specifications, please visit http://www.deltawingracing.com/
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