V8SC: Nissan to go V8 racing

Two decades after its Godzilla was outlawed, Nissan is to return to Australia's premier championship with a V8!

Nissan is to join forces with the Kelly V8 Supercars (V8SC) operation to become the first new brand in V8 Supercar racing under the Car of the Future regulations taking effect next year.

The Japanese company's entry to the sport, taking on Holden and Ford. Nissan sources have already told motoring.com.au that they will not reveal which model or what engine it will choose to race in 2013. Speculation is the body could be that of its new medium-sized car, Altima.

The Nissan announcement comes on the heels of talk of a Chrysler entry and fresh speculation of a Korean brand being enticed to enter the series.

Nissan is linking up with the existing team of brothers Todd and Rick Kelly, which now fields Holden Commodores. The Kelly operation is chaired by former Holden Special Vehicles chief, John Crennan.

Nissan's move comes 20 years after it exited Australian touring car racing with a sour taste in its mouth. It's all-conquering early four-wheel-drive, twin-turbocharged GT-R was outlawed from Australia's premier championship to make way for the introduction of the two-make V8 formula.

Legendary driver Jim Richards famously called Holden and Ford fans "a pack of arseholes" when they booed Nissan's 1992 Bathurst 1000 victory.

Richards' co-driver that day was Mark Skaife, now head of the Car of the Future project and who has wooed the company into V8 Supercar racing.

Despite V8 Supercars Australia just having laid off 10 staff in a round of cost-cutting, there is talk within the sport that it will pay Nissan a $1 million "bounty" for becoming the first new make in the category.

Nissan may be creating a sponsorship headache for itself, however. It quickly pulled out of a safety car arrangement with V8SA in mid-2009 because it was unhappy at being expected to carry XXXX beer livery, yet the Kelly Brothers team's major sponsor is Jack Daniel's bourbon.

And while Nissan may announce plans for four V8 Supercars today, two of the four licences on which the Kellys field Commodores are leased from their owner, former Holden racer and constructor Larry Perkins. Perkins was one of the strongest critics of Nissan's touring car dominance in the early 1990s and delighted in referring to the brand by its previous name, Datsun.

The Kellys may have to try to buy Perkins' two licences if they want to field four Nissans from the start of the 2013 season.