Nissan to skip remainder of WEC season before 2016 LMP1 return

The Japanese manufacturer announced that it was putting its race programme on temporary hold in August to focus on the technical issues its radical contender encountered on its race debut in the Le Mans 24 Hours in June.

That decision is understood to have covered the Nurburgring, Austin and Fuji races and Nissan has now opted to miss the Shanghai and Bahrain races in November as well.

Nissan confirmed that it is working on restoring the original concept of the GT-R LM, which was designed around an eight megajoule hybrid system powering the narrow rear wheels.

A Nissan spokesperson told AUTOSPORT: "Development of the energy retrieval system has been underway for some time.

"The first dyno tests are expected before the end of the year and it will then do a complete dyno cycle before it goes in the car."

It is understood that an alternative system to that designed and built by ToroTrak, which never ran in the car, is under development at a new supplier.

The Nissan LMP1 organisation has been restructured with the appointment of a new team principal in Mike Carcamo, who has been transferred from Nissan Mexico to NISMO.

He takes over from Ben Bowlby, who will now concentrate on his role as technical director.

"Ben had his hands full trying to do everything; managing the design and build but also the race and test operation," said Carcamo.

"That's a lot to ask anyone to do, especially with a concept that requires this level of development.

"My knowledge of Nissan engineering processes and project planning experience will help Ben and the team concentrate on making the car deliver on its promise."

Nissan conducted a test in Austin last week with Olivier Pla and Harry Tincknell driving.

The car, running without hybrid power as at Le Mans, "went significantly faster than it previously and did not experience any significant reliability issues", according to a Nissan statement.

Nissan global motorsport boss Darren Cox added that the company's "sights were firmly set on 2016 and we are confident that with Mike's project management support, Ben and the team can reach the performance levels we expect".