WEC: Nissan quits LMP1

Nissan has axed its troubled FIA World Endurance LMP1 Program. The Japanese manufacturer alerted employees via e-mail Tuesday morning the Indianapolis-based front-engine GT-R LM NISMO P1 hybrid program has been shuttered. Most employees were on holiday at the time, and according to one team source, those attempting to enter the building found access codes had changed and were locked out.

Program leaders Ben Bowlby and Chris Mower were then tasked with calling each employee directly as many, according to a source, were not monitoring work email and learned about their firings via the Internet.

"The teams worked diligently to bring the vehicles up to the desired performance levels," Nissan said in a press release. "However, the company concluded that the program would not be able to reach its ambitions and decided to focus on developing its longer term racing strategies."

The decision, which comes just three days before Christmas, affects upwards of 40 people, and follows last week's test of the car at the NOLA circuit in Louisiana where, according to one staff member, it went "well, but didn't go great."

Although more speed was found with the package through mechanical grip at NOLA, the new NISMO-designed hybrid system is said to have delivered far less power than expected in initial bench testing. The GT-R LM NISMO chassis also recently failed its second FIA crash test, and it's believed the continual lack of pace, issues with its brand-new hybrid system, and yet another redesign being needed to meet crash certification standards led Nissan Japan to abandon the project.

The ambitious Bowlby-designed car drastically underperformed when it broke cover on Dec. 19, 2014, and continued to underwhelm as its high-powered Torotrak hybrid system proved incapable of meeting modest outlput levels. The three-car team skipped the first two WEC races to prepared for its debut at the 24 Hours of Le Mans, and ran its trio of entries without hybrid power. A vivid lack of pace and poor reliability awaited the cars in the race, where the trio was unable to complete the full race distance.

Nissan continued to test the car after Le Mans, but withdrew from the remainder of the WEC season, which drew the ire of the series. Plans were in motion to race in 2016, albeit with the timeline pushed to yet another late completion. 368 days after the car and team were unveiled at Circuit of The Americas, the experiment is over.