LOS ANGELES - The Los Angeles Auto Show came to a close on Sunday with the revolutionary Nissan DeltaWing race car widely acknowledged as a major show highlight.
The car that captured the imagination of fans and media at this year's 24 Hours of Le Mans and October's Petit Le Mans appeared at the Nissan stand for the duration of the LA show which ran from November 30 through to December 9.
During that time, the unique project continued to receive major industry accolades including the Autosport Magazine Pioneering and Innovation Award in London on December 2.
In recent weeks the car has gathered a collection of awards including the Evo Magazine (UK) Innovation Award; Automobile Magazine's Racing Car of the Year and a Popular Science "Best of What's New" Award.
Project designer Ben Bowlby recently received the Royal Automobile Club's Simms Medal and scored the Dino Toso Award for the racecar aerodynamicist of the year by Race Tech magazine.
The car was also nominated as a contender for the Autosport Awards Racing Car of the Year.
Highlights of the development of the car in 2012 can be viewed by clicking the header link above.
"We're certainly thrilled to receive these awards," DeltaWing Racing Cars' Don Panoz said.
"Bringing the dream of the DeltaWing to fruition required a huge leap of faith by everyone involved in the project. We look back on what has been achieved this year with a great deal of satisfaction.
"Receiving these accolades gives us added incentive to press ahead with the DetlaWing concept as both a sportscar and in single seater form. DeltaWing Racing Cars is committed to the concept of showcasing efficiency as a key component in making motorsport more relevant for the automotive industry.
"We are incredibly grateful for the support of our partners Nissan and Michelin. The amazing team effort from everyone involved has helped make this possible."
Although it ran as an unclassified experimental entry at Le Mans and Road Atlanta, the car will be eligible to compete as a point-scoring contender in next year's American Le Mans Series.
The next stop for the Nissan DeltaWing will be in January for the North American International Auto Show where it will be on display at the Michelin Challenge Design stand.
The program will also have a presence at the Autosport International Show in January in the UK with the original show car appearing at the Aurora Bearings stand.
Media highlights from the recent LA Auto Show have included:
LA Times: Bob Young
"Nissan's DeltaWing race car looks like something out of a Batman movie and boasts super-power performance to match. Having made its debut at this year's 24 Hours of Le Mans endurance race in France and then completing the Petit le Mans in Atlanta in October, this wild creation is making its first North American auto show appearance downtown."
The Globe and Mail: Peter Cheney
"Race cars should be exciting to watch. But they aren't. Instead, they blur together in an endless stream of lookalikes: if it weren't for the sponsor logos, most people couldn't tell a Red Bull RB-7 Formula One car from a Ferrari F2012. But then there's the Nissan DeltaWing, the strangest, coolest race car to come along in decades."
Car Advice: Anthony Crawford
Looking more like a stealth fighter than a Le Mans racing car, the Nissan DeltaWing represents one of the most groundbreaking innovations in motor sport of its time. Featuring half the weight, half the power and half the drag of a Le Mans Prototype sports car (LMP1), Nissan DeltaWing consumes around half the fuel of typical Le Mans cars.
# # #
Source: nissannews.com
No comments:
Post a Comment