V8 Supercars: Nissan to join series in 2013

It's not known whether Nissan will compete with the GT-R. Earlier generations of the GT-R dominated the series in the early 1990s.

Nissan on Thursday revealed that it will return to Australia's V8 Supercars Championship in 2013 after a 20-year hiatus.
The Japanese automaker last competed in the series in 1992, winning the championship for the third consecutive season, as well as the famous Bathurst 1000. In total, Nissan won 28 races during the 1980s and early 1990s. But a rules change beginning in the 1993 season outlawing turbocharged cars made the Nissan Skyline GT-R models ineligible and forced Nissan to exit the series, leaving Supercars' present-day manufacturers, Ford and Holden, to duke it out.
Nissan will join the series in 2013 when the new Car of the Future rules are put into practice. The new rules call for a spec chassis and other components to help control the cost. But the series says each car will be identified distinctly as a Ford, a Holden or a Nissan and will closely resemble their road-car counterparts. The new rules are intended to make it easier for manufacturers to join the V8 Supercars Championship.
“Nissan believes that, alongside Ford and Holden, we possess the most convincing motorsport DNA and track history in Australia, making a V8 Supercars Championship debut in 2013 an obvious initiative,” CEO and managing director of Nissan Australia Dan Thompson told V8supercars.com. “We are targeting No. 1 importer status in Australia and already making progress towards that as one of the country's fastest-growing brands. V8 Supercars will boost that momentum.”
V8 Supercars chairman Tony Cochrane added, “We welcome Nissan with more than open arms. This announcement ratifies all we have known about V8 Supercars for a long time—that we are an international player, a growing following globally and in great demand by big business and corporate players.”
Kelly Racing will be Nissan's factory team and will have the full support of the Nismo Nissan Motorsport organization. The team will run four cars, two of which will be driven by co-owners Todd and Rick Kelly.
“I couldn't be more excited with the opportunity Nissan has offered Todd, myself and the entire team at Kelly Racing to become their official factory team,” Rick Kelly said. “Nissan's genuine enthusiasm, unwavering support and absolute professionalism through this evaluation has been tremendous and underpins their absolute intentions of championship success in the category—a dream we share and hope to deliver on.”
Nissan will announce its car and engine package at a later date.