This Nissan R88C, now in its Calsonic livery, raced in the All-Japan Sports Prototype Championship, World Sportscar Championship and 24 Hours of Le Mans through 1988 and 1989.
Drivers included Japan’s Kazuyoshi Hoshino, Kenji Takahashi and Toshio Suzuki, the United Kingdom’s Win Percy and Allan Grice from Australia.
The period was at the height of Group C sportscar racing and this car is powered by the 3.0-lt twin-turbocharged V8 VRH30 engine and produced around 950hp (700kw) in qualifying trim.
Nissan entered two works R88Cs for Le Mans and unlike previous years, the manufacture competed in some lead up races, albeit without promising results. The cars were still well off the pace of the leading Jaguars and Porsches.
The reliability was still poor as well as only one of the R88Cs made it to the finish, 50 laps down on the winning Jaguar. At least in the Japanese championship, one of the R88Cs managed to score back-to-back podiums. That did however, pave the way for Nissan to take pole at Le Mans in 1990 with revised car, engine and a Lola chassis.
The Nissan R88C will join the rotary-powered Mazda 767B in the Invitational category with other sportscars on track alongside the Nissan and Mazda still to be confirmed.
Held the week prior to the Australian Grand Prix, the 2025 Adelaide Motorsport Festival will again feature various categories, which range from Formula 1 cars, V8 Supercars, sports cars, touring cars, motorbikes and more.
There will be non-stop action across the two days, without a break in track activity at any stage of the day. Off track, there will be car displays, kids’ zones, bars and food trucks, exhibitors and traders, activations and more, in a picnic in the park setting.
Tickets are on sale now with weekend tickets and single-day tickets available, in addition to tickets to the Toyota Gazoo Racing Garden and VIP Suite hospitality offerings.
For more information and ticket purchases, visit AdelaideMotorsportFestival.com.au.
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