Nissan announces two-car Fuji 24 Hours effort with Z

The Yokohama-based manufacturer will field two examples of the Z, one via its factory NISMO team and the other via the Max Racing squad, in the Super Taikyu showcase event on June 4-5.

Both cars will be entered in the ST-Q class for cars not conforming to any specific regulations.

Nissan revealed the Z road car last year, swiftly introducing it as the base for its new GT500 model in SUPER GT as a replacement for the ageing GT-R.

However, the Fuji 24 Hours venture suggests that Nissan is looking to evaluate the Z for use in other categories such as GT3 and GT4 in future.

A short statement from Nissan said it hopes to "investigate the possibility of using the Z in various motorsport categories" and is "aiming to use a tough 24-hour race such as this to forge an exciting racing car worthy of the Z moniker".

With no technical details provided, it remains to be seen at which performance level Nissan will pitch this new Z variant.

Super Taikyu's top class is the ST-X class for FIA GT3 cars, while it also has a strong field of ST-Z (FIA GT4) cars and a variety of production-based classes, going all the way down to Mazda MX-5s and similar in the lowest ST-5 class.

Nissan did however announce the driver line-ups for both cars, with the #230 NISMO-entered car to be piloted by a quartet of the marque's SUPER GT aces, Ronnie Quintarelli, Tsugio Matsuda, Kohei Hirate and Daiki Sasaki, plus Kazuki Hoshino, who retired from SUPER GT driving duties last year.

The Max Racing entry will be shared by team regulars Tora Tanaka, Tetsuya Tanaka (who doubles up as team boss) and Super Formula driver Atsushi Miyake, joined by NISMO SUPER GT man Mitsunori Takaboshi and Hironobu Yasuda, who drives for Nissan-backed Gainer in the GT300 class.

The two Z cars will join several full-season Super Taikyu efforts in the ST-Q class, including Toyota's innovative hydrogen-propelled Corolla Sport, a biofuel-powered Mazda 2, and a Subaru BRZ powered by carbon-neutral fuel.