Nissan R89C
Encyclopedia
The Nissan R89C was a Group C
race car was developed by Nissan to participate in the World Sportscar Championship
and All Japan Sports Prototype Championship
, as well as the 1989 24 Hours of Le Mans
.
built series of prototypes that Nissan had used, the R89C was part of Nissan's increased involvement in the project. Developed in conjunction with the Lola firm, the R89C featured a Kevlar and carbon-fibre based monocoque
chassis (named T89/10 by Lola). Nissan's new twin-turbo VRH35
3.5L V8 DOHC engine was mounted in a stressed installtion for better chassis rigidity and produced up to 950bhp.
, Nissan struggled to find not only reliability, but also pace from the new chassis and engine. With this, the R89C was only able to score points in three races, but was able to finish the season fifth in the team's championship. In the All Japan Sports Prototype Championship
, the R89C suffered the same fate, unable to compete with its developed Porsche
and Toyota opponents, leaving Nissan to finish the season third in the championship. Meanwhile, at the 24 Hours of Le Mans, three R89Cs were entered into the race. However, all three failed to finish the race due to mechanical problems.
For 1990, the R89C was campaigned by Nissan for the first race of the World Sportscar Championship
until it was replaced by both the R90CK and R90CP
. 2 R89Cs would be passed on to privateer teams, with Courage Compétition
managing to finish 22nd in the 1990 24 Hours of Le Mans
with an ex-factory R89C (chassis #01). Chassis #03 was modified by Team Le Mans to become known as R90V. It ran JSPC with a best result of sixth before being retired. It also ran at Le Mans in 1990 retiring at about 7.00 AM.
R89C chassis #02 was rebuilt as an R90CP for use by Nismo at Le Mans and in the All-Japan Sports-Prototype Championship.
Group C
Group C was a category of motorsport, introduced by the FIA in 1982 for sports car racing, along with Group A for touring cars and Group B for GTs....
race car was developed by Nissan to participate in the World Sportscar Championship
World Sportscar Championship
The World Sportscar Championship was the world series run for sports car racing by the FIA from 1953 to 1992.The championship evolved from a small collection of the most important sportscar, endurance and road racing events in Europe and North America with dozens of gentleman drivers at the grid,...
and All Japan Sports Prototype Championship
All Japan Sports Prototype Championship
The , abbreviated as JSPC, formed by the Japanese Automobile Federation, was a domestic championship which took place in Japan for Group C and IMSA GTP prototype cars and also featured cars that were eligible for touring car racing in its earlier years...
, as well as the 1989 24 Hours of Le Mans
1989 24 Hours of Le Mans
The 1989 24 Hours of Le Mans was the 57th Grand Prix of Endurance, and took place on June 10 and 11 1989.-Race:The race was the last time the 24 Hours of Le Mans ran without the two chicanes on the Mulsanne Straight; for the interest of safety to reduce speeds after speeds reaching in the previous...
.
Development
Replacing the original MarchMarch Engineering
March Engineering was a Formula One constructor and manufacturer of customer racing cars from the United Kingdom. Although only moderately successful in Grand Prix competition, March racing cars enjoyed much better achievement in other categories of competition including Formula Two, Formula Three,...
built series of prototypes that Nissan had used, the R89C was part of Nissan's increased involvement in the project. Developed in conjunction with the Lola firm, the R89C featured a Kevlar and carbon-fibre based monocoque
Monocoque
Monocoque is a construction technique that supports structural load by using an object's external skin, as opposed to using an internal frame or truss that is then covered with a non-load-bearing skin or coachwork...
chassis (named T89/10 by Lola). Nissan's new twin-turbo VRH35
Nissan VRH35 engine
thumb|right|250px|VRH35Z Engine.The VRH35 is 3.5L V8 piston engine from Nissan.It was developed newly by Yoshimasa Hayashi.V=V engine configuration R=Racing H=The eighth of the alphabet = Eight cylinders-1987:...
3.5L V8 DOHC engine was mounted in a stressed installtion for better chassis rigidity and produced up to 950bhp.
Racing history
In the 1989 World Sportscar Championship season1989 World Sportscar Championship season
The 1989 World Sportscar Championship season was the 37th season of FIA World Sportscar Championship motor racing. It featured the 1989 FIA World Sports Prototype Championship, which was open to Group C1 Sports Prototypes, Group C2 Sports Prototypes and IMSA GTP cars...
, Nissan struggled to find not only reliability, but also pace from the new chassis and engine. With this, the R89C was only able to score points in three races, but was able to finish the season fifth in the team's championship. In the All Japan Sports Prototype Championship
All Japan Sports Prototype Championship
The , abbreviated as JSPC, formed by the Japanese Automobile Federation, was a domestic championship which took place in Japan for Group C and IMSA GTP prototype cars and also featured cars that were eligible for touring car racing in its earlier years...
, the R89C suffered the same fate, unable to compete with its developed Porsche
Porsche
Porsche Automobil Holding SE, usually shortened to Porsche SE a Societas Europaea or European Public Company, is a German based holding company with investments in the automotive industry....
and Toyota opponents, leaving Nissan to finish the season third in the championship. Meanwhile, at the 24 Hours of Le Mans, three R89Cs were entered into the race. However, all three failed to finish the race due to mechanical problems.
For 1990, the R89C was campaigned by Nissan for the first race of the World Sportscar Championship
World Sportscar Championship
The World Sportscar Championship was the world series run for sports car racing by the FIA from 1953 to 1992.The championship evolved from a small collection of the most important sportscar, endurance and road racing events in Europe and North America with dozens of gentleman drivers at the grid,...
until it was replaced by both the R90CK and R90CP
Nissan R90C
The Nissan R90C was either of two Group C racing cars built in 1990 for Nissan Motors for competition in World Sportscar Championship based in Europe and the All Japan Sports Prototype Championship . The cars based on the basic R90C platform would compete until 1993 before Nissan chose to...
. 2 R89Cs would be passed on to privateer teams, with Courage Compétition
Courage Compétition
Courage Compétition was a racing team and chassis constructor company now owned by Oreca, based in Le Mans, France near the Circuit de la Sarthe. It was founded by Yves Courage, a French race driver who ran hillclimbs before founding the company...
managing to finish 22nd in the 1990 24 Hours of Le Mans
1990 24 Hours of Le Mans
The 1990 24 Hours of Le Mans was the 58th Grand Prix of Endurance, and took place on June 16 and 17 1990.-Pre-race:This was the first race after the installation of two chicanes along the Mulsanne Straight in an attempt to slow the prototypes down after speeds of were reached in previous...
with an ex-factory R89C (chassis #01). Chassis #03 was modified by Team Le Mans to become known as R90V. It ran JSPC with a best result of sixth before being retired. It also ran at Le Mans in 1990 retiring at about 7.00 AM.
R89C chassis #02 was rebuilt as an R90CP for use by Nismo at Le Mans and in the All-Japan Sports-Prototype Championship.