Rick Kelly Chosen For Nismo Athlete Global Team

Nissan Motorsport’s Rick Kelly has been selected to take part in the company’s new ‘Nismo Athlete Global Team’.

The initiative is part of the ‘Nismo Global Driver Exchange’ intended to open race car doors all over the world for the company’s roster of racing drivers, with several Nismo athletes participating in a range of motorsport challenges internationally.

This opportunity will see Kelly as the lead driver for an entry in the Bathurst 12-Hour in February 2014.

The decision by Nismo to contest the Australian event demonstrates the impact the Nissan V8 Supercar program has made, as the newest addition to Nissan’s global motorsport activities.

Nissan Motorsport became the first new manufacturer in the V8 Supercars Championship in over two decades when it announced it would re-enter the sport with a four-car factory team fielding Nissan Altima V8 Supercars for the 2013 season.

Kelly has entered Australia’s ‘Great Race’ on 12 occasions, winning in 2003 and 2004, and couldn’t be more excited by the opportunity to steer a Nissan GT-R Nismo GT3 entered and prepared by Nismo’s own factory team from Japan. 

Kelly felt the Nissan would be capable of great things.

“Nismo has kept a very keen eye on our V8 Supercars program since we announced we were bringing Nissan back to the sport here in Australia,” Kelly said. 

“We’ve had strong and open dialogue with them and I think this is the start of what we can make happen in the future.”

Nissan’s Director of Global Motorsport Darren Cox said the program was created to give all Nismo drivers the opportunity to gain wider experience.

“It is another step towards a truly global approach to our motorsport activities,” Cox said.

“It’s tough to jump from one championship to another but our driver development program isn’t supposed to be an easy ride. The cream will always rise to the top. 

“We have shown that our drivers can move from car to car and learn from all of their experiences. Look at Jann Mardenborough who went from a Nissan GT-R Nismo GT3 to an F3 car to setting incredible lap times in a Nissan-powered LM P2 car at Le Mans…

“Nissan races extensively all around the world. We race in Japan and have been very successful with the Nissan GT-R over the last two years in the Super GT Championship, being the champions.

“We also race extensively in Europe, both in GT3 with the GT-R, but also in the Le Mans Series and the World Endurance Championship in LMP2.

“With the addition of the V8 Supercar program, Nissan’s motorsport activity is expanding all around the world, really to cement ‘innovation that excites’.”

The rest of Kelly’s squad from the global pool of Nismo athletes will be decided in the coming months.