Something a little bit different

The Nissan Deltawing that we moved prior to Le Mans this year for some exhibition work. This car then raced at Le Mans. It is some 2300mm wide so had to be moved in a truck rather than a trailer.


The DeltaWing is a racing car designed by Ben Bowlby debuted at the 2012 24 Hours of Le Mans. The entry will run under the Project 56 name, composed of Ben Bowlby's DeltaWing Racing Cars (design), Dan Gurney's All American Racers (constructor), Duncan Dayton's Highcroft Racing (racing team) and International Motor Sports Association owner Don Panoz (advisor). 

Nissan's NISMO division is also assisting in the development of the car. In June 2011 it was announced that the car would fill the 56th garage at the 2012 24 Hours of Le Mans, reserved for experimental vehicles. As with all Le Mans cars, the DeltaWing was be a two-seater. Marino Franchitti, Michael Krumm and Satoshi Motoyama drove the DeltaWing at Le Mans.

It qualified 29th with a time of 3:42.612, which was 18.825 behind the lead car. The car was retired after 75 laps following an accident in which the DeltaWing ran into a concrete barrier at the Porsche Curves after being knocked off the circuit by Kazuki Nakajima's Toyota TS030 Hybrid. The DeltaWing recorded a best race lap time of 3:45.737, rivaling some of the LMP2 teams. Nakajima later apologized for the incident.