Speed record livery for De Silvestro Nissan

Nissan Motorsport will mark the 50th anniversary of the Japanese manufacturer setting a host of outright speed records, with Simona De Silvestro’s Wilson Security Sandown 500 livery.

All four of the team’s Nissans will celebrate machinery from its history during Supercars’ retro round, with De Silvestro and David Russell to carry a livery based on the R380 Type II.

On October 8 1967, Tatsu Yokoyama took the car to speed records across 50, 100 and 200km, and 50, 100 and 200 miles.

A new record for outright distance travelled in one hour with 250.98km also beat the previous record by more than 20km.

The lightweight, 164kW model also set five international speed records in 1965 and won the ‘66 Japanese Grand Prix, in its pre-Formula 1 era.

“The car looks amazing, and I love the idea of going retro for Sandown,” De Silvestro said.

“Nissan has a lot of famous race cars and to be honest I didn’t know much about the R380 before, but this has been a nice chance to learn about such a successful car.

“So while it certainly achieved a lot, I think it also makes for a really good looking Supercar.

“The whole team has gotten behind the retro idea, and I think it’s a great way have a bit of fun ahead of what is a very serious part of the season.”

Michael Caruso’s #23 entry will pay tribute to Nissan’s Calsonic R32 GT-R, while the Kelly brothers will carry the colours of American Pete Brock’s factory Datsun team.

While De Silvestro has contested the last two Bathurst 1000s, the September 17 race will be her debut in the Sandown 500.

Russell has been an enduro regular since 2010, including spending the last four campaigns with Nissan Motorsport.

“Given his experience in the team over the last couple of years, David probably has had more seat time in the Altima than I have,” the 29-year-old said.

“So that level of experience will be beneficial when we’re dealing with longer races where anything can happen.”