<< Prev Page 2 of 3 Next >> Dubbed Nissan Motorsports Europe (NME), the new headquarter was set up in Milton Keynes, England, near Silverstone. They would be responsible for running the cars in the World Championship. For Le Mans and the home race, now at Suzuka, additional support was offered by their Japanese counterpart Nismo. While the new Lola Nissans were still being readied at NME, the first races were competed by upgraded Nissan (March) R88Cs. The first R89C was completed in May and was ready in time for the Dijon round of the championship where it qualified 6th and finished 15th.
Nissan Motorsport entered three of the new R89Cs in the 24 Hours of Le Mans race backed up by an 88C entered by Yves Courage. During qualifying the cars could do no better than 12th, 15th and 19th. The race proved to be even worse with all three R89C failing to finish; two with engine failures and the other with accident damage. In the remainder of the season a victory was scored in a minor German race. In addition impressive third place finishes were also recorded in the World Championship at Donnington and Spa. Both the pace and reliability improved throughout the season.
Encouraged by the promising results at the the end of 1989, Nissan asked to build six new cars for the 1990 season. Although differing from its predecessor in detail, the car was referred to as the R90C or R90CK (Kae is Japanese for improved). Two cars were entered in the World Championship and a third served as a T-car. At its debut in Monza, the R90CK finished a promising 7th. The 1989 result at Spa was repeated as the new Nissan/Lola took a third after starting from tenth on the grid. Next on the agenda was the 24 Hours of Le Mans where Nissan was present with a record entry of seven cars, including five R90CKs. << Prev Page 2 of 3 Next >>
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Dubbed Nissan Motorsports Europe (NME), the new headquarter was set up in Milton Keynes, England, near Silverstone. They would be responsible for running the cars in the World Championship. For Le Mans and the home race, now at Suzuka, additional support was offered by their Japanese counterpart Nismo. While the new Lola Nissans were still being readied at NME, the first races were competed by upgraded Nissan (March) R88Cs. The first R89C was completed in May and was ready in time for the Dijon round of the championship where it qualified 6th and finished 15th.