1991: Mark Skaife and Jim Richards on their way to Bathurst victory for Nissan in the mighty GT-R.
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11:05 AM Thu 9 February, 2012
Source: BigPond Sport
WITH today’s news that Nissan is entering the V8 Supercars Championship in 2013, it’s timely to remember its previous achievements and involvement in Australian touring car racing.
The company first appeared in Australian touring car racing as Nissan in the early 1980s after moving away from the Datsun branding.
Datsuns competed in the 1960s in the Hardie-Ferodo 500 at Bathurst – the race that we know today as the Supercheap Auto Bathurst 1000 – before turbocharged Nissan Bluebirds appeared in 1981 run under the late Howard Marsden.
Nissan would ultimately be a factory entrant at Bathurst from 1981 to 1984 under Group C rules and 1986 to 1992 under Group A regulations.
After convincing rally ace George Fury to switch to circuit racing, Nissan entered a pair of Bluebirds in the 1981 James Hardie 1000 at Bathurst, returning a year later to finish eighth overall with Japanese duo Masahiro Hasemi and Kazuyoshi Hoshino.
Fury started on the front row in 1983 and took pole position in 1984 with a record 2m13.850s lap before the company missed the race in 1985 as it prepared its Group A Skylines under the direction of former driver Fred Gibson.
The team finished on the podium in 1986 (after Gary Scott took pole) and then put two cars on the podium in 1987 as Glenn Seton/John Bowe finished runners-up and Fury and Terry Shiel were third.
The works Nissan team introduced the GTS-R in 1988 and Jim Richards and Mark Skaife finished third at Bathurst in 1989 in one of the raspy six-cylinder machines, before the introduction of the mighty, four-wheel drive ‘Godzilla’ GT-R in 1990.
The car became the first Japanese machine to win The Great Race in 1991 with Richards and Skaife driving to victory (after Skaife had taken pole) and the pair repeated the dose a year later in controversial circumstances in 1992. This was the last year before the five-litre, Holden versus Ford rulebook (later known as V8 Supercars), was introduced.
The last time a Nissan appeared in the Bathurst 1000 was 1998’s two-litre Super Touring, AMP Bathurst 1000.
Steven Richards and Matt Neal drove a Primera to second place after starting on the front row.
In all, Nissan has two wins and three pole positions at the Bathurst 1000 and is one of only seven manufacturers to win Australia’s Great Race.
In terms of the Australian Touring Car Championship, Nissan claimed the 1990, 1991 and 1992 titles with Jim Richards (1990 and 1991) and Mark Skaife (1992).
Skaife sealed the 1992 title at Oran Park on Sunday June 21, 1992 with a pair of race wins – this was the last time a Nissan took part in an ATCC/V8SC event.
All told, Nissan has won 28 Australian Touring Car Championship/V8 Supercars Championship races, the most of any manufacturer other than Holden or Ford.
Its last appearance as a works entrant in Australian touring car racing came on Sunday November 8, 1992 at the final Australian Grand Prix Group A support race in Adelaide.
Appropriately, Jim Richards drove the #1 Gibson Motorsport-run Nissan to victory on that day and sent the GT-R out as a winner.
Its return in 2013 – and first year of competition under the V8 Supercars rulebook – will spell an end to 21 years away from racing in the top form of touring car racing in Australia.
