Although the futuristically-looking DeltaWing bears a huge ‘Nissan’ marking on its sides, this racer was not developed by the Japanese automaker. The reason why the DeltaWing is associated with them is because it is powered by a 1.6-liter engine for the races it entered last year. But unfortunately, Nissan and the DeltaWing racer will no longer be in the same picture as Nissan had just announce their departure from the DeltaWing program.
As reported by Fox Sports/Speed TV, the partnership between these two parties is over and effective immediately. This surprising news comes right after the announcement that the DeltaWing program will expand to look into getting new engine and chassis configuration, which includes a closed-cockpit variant debuting in May.
So for the upcoming American Le Mans Series 12 Hours of Sebring, the DeltaWing will still be joining the race, except that this time it will be powered by a new twin-turbocharged 1.9-liter engine, based on the production 2.0-liter Mazda MZR. The output is estimated to be in the 345-horsepower range with 350 lb/ft of torque; 50 more horses than what Nissan’s 1.6-liter power plant generated.
But one should not look on the sudden split is due to conflicts or disagreement of any sort, as Nissan’s director of global motorsports, Darren Cox, even wished the mind behind the DeltaWing, Dr. Don Panoz and the team the best by saying, “we look forward to supporting their progress from the sidelines at future races”.
Asked about the reason of the breakup, Cox said that, “we are committed to developing innovative and exciting cars both on the track and on the road”, which pretty much shows that although the DeltaWing showers Nissan with a lot of exposure, they could never produce a car that Nissan could make money from.
