Nissan has announced it will delay its return to the FIA World Endurance Championship as the manufacturer wishes to continue its development of the radical GT-R LM Nismo prototype.

The Japanese marque has confirmed it will miss the World Endurance Championship round at the Nurburgring later this month with a date for its competitive return unknown at this stage.

“We are racers and we want to compete but we also want to be competitive,” said Shoichi Miyatani, President of NISMO.

“That is why we have chosen to continue our test programme and prepare the GT-R LM NISMO for the strong competition we face in the World Endurance Championship.

“When you innovate you don’t give up at the first hurdle. We are committed to overcoming this challenge.”

Nissan has endured a difficult return to top flight sportcars this year with its radical front engined, front wheel drive LMP1 racer significantly off the pace compared to its rivals Porsche, Audi and Toyota.

After skipping the opening two rounds of the WEC season at Silverstone and Spa to continue development, Nissan’s GT-R LM made its long awaited race debut at the Le Mans 24 Hours in June.

All three GT-R LMs struggled for speed hamstrung by being unable to run its hybrid system in the race.

As a result, only one of three entries reached the chequered flag albeit not classified as a finisher due to an extensive time spent in the pits during the race.

After recently completing a test at the Circuit of the Americas, Nissan has confirmed it will continue its testing program, which will be predominately but not exclusively based in America.