The Nismo Global Driver Exchange (also known as the Nismo Global Athlete Program) was an initiative from

Nissan , trade name, trading as Nissan Motor Corporation and often shortened to Nissan, is a Japanese multinational corporation, multinational Automotive industry, automobile manufacturer headquartered in Nishi-ku, Yokohama, Japan. The company sells ...

and

Nismo , abbreviated as Nismo, is a division of Nissan Motorsports & Customizing focused in motorsport and performance-oriented car models for Nissan. Nismo was initially a company, , formed in 1984 as a result of a merger of two motorsport departmen ...

to share driving experience from various motor racing categories around the world. The program was launched in February 2013 and consisted of drivers racing in the

All-Japan Formula Three Championship was a national motor racing championship that takes place in Japan. It is a junior-level feeder formula that uses small single seater Formula Three chassis. As a result of Formula 3 naming regulations by the FIA, on 13 August 2019, series pro ...

Blancpain Endurance Series The GT World Challenge Europe Endurance Cup, formerly for sponsorship reasons the Blancpain Endurance Series from 2011 to 2015 and Blancpain GT Series Endurance Cup from 2016 to 2019, is a sports car racing series developed by SRO Motorsports Gr ...

FIA World Endurance Championship The FIA World Endurance Championship is an auto racing world championship organized by the Automobile Club de l'Ouest (ACO) and sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). The series supersedes the ACO's former Intercont ...

GP3 Series The GP3 Series, or GP3 for short, was a single-seater motor racing series launched in 2010 as a feeder series for the GP2 Series, introduced by GP2 organiser Bruno Michel. GP3 followed the entire European leg of the Formula One series and the ...

Super GT Super GT (stylized as SUPER GT) is a grand touring car racing series that began in 1993. Launched as the , generally referred to as either the JGTC or the All Japan Grand Touring Car Championship, the series was renamed to Super GT in 2005. It is ...

and

V8 Supercars The Supercars Championship is a touring car racing category in Australia, running as an International Series under Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA) regulations, governing the sport. Supercars events take place in all Australian ...

. Drivers from the program have also raced Nissan cars in various endurance races, including the

24 Hours of Le Mans The 24 Hours of Le Mans (french: link=no, 24 Heures du Mans) is an endurance-focused Sports car racing, sports car race held annually near the town of Le Mans, France. It is the world's oldest active Endurance racing (motorsport), endurance r ...

Dubai 24 Hour The Dubai 24 Hour Race is both a sports car and touring car automobile endurance race held annually at the Dubai Autodrome. It was inaugurated in 2006. Entrants and participants As with all races in the 24H Series, promoted by Dutch promoter Cr ...

24 Hours Nürburgring 4 (four) is a number, numeral and digit. It is the natural number following 3 and preceding 5. It is the smallest semiprime and composite number, and is considered unlucky in many East Asian cultures. In mathematics Four is the smallest c ...

Spa 24 Hours The 24 Hours of Spa is an Endurance racing (motorsport), endurance racing event for cars held annually since 1924 at the Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps, Stavelot, Belgium. It is currently sponsored by TotalEnergies. History The Spa 24 Hours was ...

Bathurst 12 Hour The Bathurst 12 Hour, currently known as the Liqui Moly Bathurst 12 Hour for sponsorship reasons, is an annual endurance race for GT and production cars held at the Mount Panorama Circuit, in Bathurst, Australia. The race was first held in ...

and the

Sepang 12 Hours The Sepang 12 Hours (formerly known as the Malaysia Merdeka Endurance Race and Merdeka Millennium Endurance Race), was a 12 Hours endurance racing event held annually between 2000 and 2016 at the Sepang International Circuit on December in Mal ...

. Examples of driver exchanges include

Michael Krumm Michael Krumm (born 19 March 1970) is a German professional racing driver who won the 2011 FIA GT1 World Championship driving for JR Motorsports. Biography Born in Reutlingen, Krumm married Japanese tennis player Kimiko Date on 1 December 2001 ...

and

Lucas Ordóñez Lucas Ordóñez Martín-Esperanza (born May 1, 1985) is a Spanish racecar driver, who entered professional racing by winning a spot in a PlayStation 3 '' Gran Turismo'' competition. Racing for Nissan in the 2009 GT4 European Cup season, he secu ...

testing a V8 Supercar in 2013 and James Moffat racing in the

2014 Dubai 24 Hour The 2014 Dunlop 24H Dubai was the 9th running of the Dubai 24 Hour endurance race. It took place at the Dubai Autodrome in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, and ran between 10–11 January 2014. Race result Class Winners in bold. References Exter ...

. In February 2015,

Katsumasa Chiyo is a Japanese factory racing driver, currently competing in the Autobacs Super GT Series as a factory driver for Nissan. He is a graduate of the Nissan Driver Development Program (NDDP), and a past champion of the Bathurst 12 Hour race, and th ...

, Wolfgang Reip and Florian Strauss drove their

Nissan GT-R Nismo GT3 The Nissan GT-R (Japanese: 日産・GT-R, ''Nissan GT-R''), is a high-performance sports car and grand tourer produced by Nissan, unveiled in 2007. It is the successor to the Skyline GT-R, a high performance variant of the Nissan Skyline. Alt ...

to victory in the 2015 Liqui Moly Bathurst 12 Hour, after Chiyo took the lead with four minutes remaining. Chiyo and Reip also won the

2015 Blancpain Endurance Series The 2015 Blancpain Endurance Series season was the fifth season of the Blancpain Endurance Series. The season started on 12 April at Autodromo Nazionale Monza, Monza and ended on 20 September at the Nürburgring. The season featured five rounds, w ...

along with

Alex Buncombe Alex Buncombe (born 28 August 1981 in Taunton, England) is a British racing driver, recently left RJN Motorsport after the Blancpain Endurance Series. He is a part of the Nismo Global Driver Exchange, working with Nissan and RJN Motorsport to p ...

Former drivers

External links

Official Nismo website

Gran Turismo Academy

Nissan Motorsport (V8 Supercars)

RJN Motorsport (Blancpain Endurance Series)

References

{{Reflist Nissan in motorsport