Okay, so I’m about a week late with this news, but I just thought I’d let you all know that the Nismo-fettled R35 GT-R entered in last weekend’s Tokachi 24hr finished the race in 21st position out of a field of 28 entrants.

Despite setting the third-fastest time during practice, the Motul Nismo R35 suffered from a refueling issue early in the race, forcing the car to remain in the pits for over half an hour until the Nismo crew rectified the problem.

An ignominious outcome for the R35? Not entirely. While a podium finish would have been desirable (when is it not?), the main goal of the Motul Nismo GT-R was to test new Nismo components for the R35 in a track environment and to validate the GT-R’s endurance-racing capability, and despite the fueling woes it appears that the car did its job well.

Despite placing only 21st overall, the Motul Nismo GT-R still managed to finish first in its class. If the decision had been made to switch from the Bridgestone RE55S R-Comp tyres to the semi-slicks used by the other classes then the Motul Nismo GT-R may have fared better in the final standings, however that would’ve put the car outside of the Improved Production class it was designed to run in and into the Super Taikyu class with the much more dedicated racers.

Those wanting to know more can head over to GTRBlog, while Japanese speakers can check out a full race report over at GTR-World.net.

[Source: GTR-World.net, GTRBlog]
[Image: GTR-World.net]