Motorsport developments are increasingly grabbing headlines at mainstream OEMs, emphasising the changes taking place in the industry as a whole. A range of technology, covering not only powertrain developments but also electronics and lightweighting, has steadily migrated from racetrack to road car, following a trend that looks set to continue.
“The philosophy 
in motorsport has changed over the past five years,” Darren Cox, Global Motorsport Director at Nissan, explains.
“The business mantra is ‘We don’t do motorsport for motorsport’s sake’. In the past, car brands have competed in championships to win them and prove they have better technology…Our view is that the world has changed and we need to be doing things differently everywhere.”
The changes in the racing scene have so far centered on a shift of impetus away from pure technological development to include, and in some cases even focus on, other opportunities: “Motorsport isn’t engineering led; motorsport is actually marketing and brand-led. It’s all about telling stories in a high-profile environment about the way the Nissan brand is changing, and trying to get that message across to consumers.”
“Many of our new motorsport activities are aimed squarely at informing the general public that new technologies are coming, and doing what the motor industry used to do – proving out technologies in motorsport and transferring them to road cars. That link has been lost over the past 10-15 years when a lot of manufacturers went racing for racing’s sake.”
Side mirrors, or the lack of, is a prime example: Nissan’s ZEOD RC has been developed without side mirrors. Its launch will mark the first race car since before WWII to run without them. “Get rid of wing mirrors and you reduce drag on the car, reduce CO2 emission, increase efficiency,” Cox sums up. As a replacement for the external hardware, Nissan is looking to boost software inside the vehicle, notably using its Safety Shield system, which consists of cameras, screens and radar to provide the same information about the immediate environment as wing mirrors. The move to dropping wing mirrors in favour of Safety Shield is just one of several design changes “that could potentially come into road cars,” Cox adds.
ZEOD RC
The Zero Emission On Demand Racecar (ZEOD RC) is a clear herald of what awaits the EV passenger car segment, described by Cox as “a ground-up design of a car that will prove electric technology”. Claimed to be the fastest electric racing car, with speeds topping 300km/h, the model was the basis for the road-going BladeGlider EV concept shown at the Tokyo Motor Show.
The ZEOD RC will get its first taste of the racetrack at Le Mans this year, taking on some more traditionally powered rivals. Every hour, the ZEOD RC will perform a single lap, operating exclusively on electric power. As Cox points out, Le Mans is a long circuit at 8.5 miles, and the ZEOD RC will be running at speeds in excess of 180mph during that lap. Nissan’s lap-time prediction data says that the car should be faster than a Ferrari.
“That’s an example of us showing the general public and industry that EVs can be sexy, cool. This links directly into our road car push, but also of course in the traditional way that motorsport used to – it helps our engineers understand electric power and the challenges that happen a lot quicker than when we’re looking at road cars. The challenge [for motorsport] is immense. We’re going to be purely electric for four minutes.”
Notably, the ZEOD RC is not destined for Formula E, the upcoming championship involving only electric powered vehicles. Instead, the Le Mans race will it taking on diesel, hybrid and gasoline-powered vehicles/ Cox sees Formula E as “a very interesting championship”, however, and one that will pose significant challenges for EVs.
“Formula E could go one of two ways,” Cox says. It could either be an absolutely massive success, thanks to its location, staged in the middle of towns as opposed to an isolated race track. However, the cost of putting on such an event is daunting. “The reason it might not succeed is the cost .If they can get that working they will be a massive success.”
Looking ahead to further developments in motorsport, Cox sees an increasing divergence between entertainment and technology. “Despite its claims, F1 is in the entertainment business and the relevance to road cars is almost zero. Whereas, if you take the new rules at Le Mans, these are very relevant to road cars. That’s a very different model, that’s manufacture-based. I see an even further split between entertainment and innovation, and technologies between different championships,” he states.
From virtual to reality
Nissan is also focusing its efforts on addressing its motorsport audience, primarily the loss of younger followers. “A worrying trend is the lack of engagement of current motorsport with the younger generation,” says Cox. This is a significant matter which has been in echoed in the passenger car industry, where a lack of interest in driving and car ownership by millennial buyers has been seen, as improved mobility alternatives vie for their attention.
“For motorsport the challenge is getting young people engaged as spectators, administrators, volunteers, engineers,” Cox adds. To address this, Nissan has been linking gaming to motorsport through the GT Academy. This “takes players from the PlayStation game Gran Turismo, and we see if we can turn them into race car drivers,” explains Cox. “The main push is this idea of virtual to reality…about democratising performance in motorsport.”
The academy takes individuals who excel at racing video games, and trains them to become professional racing drivers. The first GT Academy was held in 2008. The success of the programme has been considerable, and many participants have gone on to racing victory. “The people who win this competition quit their jobs, quit school, move away, and become professional race car drivers,” the GT Academy website boasts.
Cox is similarly enthusiastic about the success of the programme: “We’ve proved that it works. We’re in our sixth year and our first winner has been on the podium on Le Mans twice. Last year we had across the globe 41 podiums from guys that have come through this programme.”
Success on the racetrack breeds enthusiasm, and that is exactly what Nissan is after. “This really fires a new generation of engineers, drivers and fans, because we’re doing it in the world that these guys are in. At our GT Academy we have had four million people enter the competition so far, over five years. That’s a huge number of people trying to be a racing driver. Where today, for most racing drivers you have to be the son of an oligarch or [associated with] a big conglomerate.”
Looking ahead, Cox believes a major focus for motorsport, and Nissan in particular, will be entry into new markets. “People have been talking about getting motorsport into new markets for many years. There have been a number of attempts to establish in China, India, re-establish in some South American countries, the Middle East. That will continue to be a trend,” he states.
Again, this is where the likes of GT Academy come in, and Nissan intends to use it to establish a culture of motorsport where there has not been one before. “It’s very difficult if you are a lower-middle class Indian or in the UAE to go go-carting. This is where everyone in the UK or Western Europe starts racing. However, they do have PlayStations. Why not start their racing career on PlayStations? We’ve proved it has worked. We’re looking at expanding globally. The Academy is currently is in Europe, Russia, the US, Middle East and South Africa, and will soon expand into some new markets that haven’t got a culture of motorsport. We hope to build that culture online rather than physically first.”
