Nissan puts 2015 WEC race programme on hold to focus on testing

A statement from the Japanese manufacturer said that it would delay the return of the front-wheel-drive car to the WEC, which resumes after a 10-week break at the Nurburgring later this month, and "instead focus on technical issues that challenged its race team during the Le Mans 24 Hours".

Nissan stated that a decision on the date for Nissan's return to the WEC would be made at a later date, "depending on the progress of the test programme".

Shoichi Miyatani, president of Nissan motorsport arm NISMO, said: "We are racers and we want to compete but we also want to be competitive.

"That is why we have chosen to continue our test programme and prepare the GT-R LM NISMO for the strong competition we face in the WEC.

"When you innovate you don't give up at the first hurdle; we are committed to overcoming this challenge."

The Nissan, which ran in high-downforce specification for the first time at Austin last month [pictured], will continue testing "predominantly but not exclusively" in the US where the programme is based.

Nissan LMP1 technical director Ben Bowlby, the architect of the radical GT-R, said: "We have many areas to work on, not least ensuring that we have the best energy recovery system option available to us.

"The team is pushing hard on track, in the windtunnel and at NISMO's various facilities around the world to deliver the long list of improvements we know that we need."

Nissan admitted after the Le Mans 24 Hours that the GT-R LM, which qualified 20 seconds off the pace on its debut at the race in June, ran without its hybrid system engaged during the race.