Nissan GT-R in motorsport
The Nissan GT-R has established itself in global motorsport, continuing the exceptional pedigree of its predecessors with success across various racing disciplines—most notably in Super GT, FIA GT1 World Championship, and across various Group GT3 competitions. It has achieved multiple championship victories, demonstrated adaptability across formats, and strong support from both manufacturer and customer teams worldwide.
In Super GT, the GT-R made an immediate impact upon its 2008 debut in the GT500 class, winning seven of nine races and securing the drivers' championship in its debut season. Momentum continued with back-to-back titles in 2011 and 2012, followed by further championship triumphs in 2014 and 2015. Having retired from the series in 2021, the GT-R still holds the record for most titles and race wins in Super GT/JGTC history. In the GT300 class, the GT-R Nismo GT3 has proven to be equally successful, earning a record three championship doubles in 2015, 2020, and 2022 seasons. It continues to compete actively through customer teams.
Internationally, the GT-R achieved notable success in the FIA GT1 World Championship, debuting in 2009 and gaining further success in the following seasons. The car claimed the 2010 RAC Tourist Trophy and secured the 2011 drivers’ championship with JR Motorsports before the series folded in 2012. Success continued with the GT-R Nismo GT3 in Group GT3 racing, notably capturing GT World Challenge Europe Endurance Cup titles in 2013 and 2015, before concluding its international campaign in 2017. Domestically, in Japan’s Super Taikyu Series, the car holds a record six championships. It remains actively campaigned in the GT World Challenge Asia and the SRO Japan Cup through customer racing teams.
Beyond these series, the GT-R has competed across a wide range of motorsport arenas. It has achieved class wins at events such as Targa Tasmania and Targa West, and also won the One Lap of America in 2009, finishing second in 2010. The car has appeared in regional GT championships and global endurance events, notably winning the 2015 Bathurst 12 Hour, 2011 and 2012 24 Hours of Nürburgring races in the SP8T class. The GT-R has a renowned aftermarket tuning community. Its superior tunability has led to record-setting performances across various disciplines, including notable successes in drag racing and international drifting events.
Super GT
GT500
, the motorsport division of Nissan, participated with the GT-R Nismo GT500 in the Super GT series for the first time in 2008, replacing the 350Z GT. The GT500 version of the car featured a completely different drivetrain compared to the production car. It featured the VK45DE 4.5-litre naturally aspirated V8 engine, replacing the VR38DETT engine. It used a 6-speed sequential manual gearbox and a rear-wheel-drive layout derived from its predecessor. A prototype was spotted testing around the Suzuka Circuit, as well as at the Fuji Speedway in Japan. It went onto win the opening round of its debut season, at Suzuka scoring a 1–2 finish for Nissan. In the following race, repeated its 1–2 result, won the drivers' championship in its debut season, through team Xanavi, and drivers Satoshi Motoyama and Benoît Tréluyer, although they only managed to finish third in the teams' championship. The car's dominant debut season saw it winning 7 out of 9 races and 10 podium finishes with four different teams.Due to engine reliability issues, the car only managed to achieve 4 victories and 8 podium finishes in 2009, reigning champions won 2 races and 3 podium finishes to end up 3rd in the championship standings. In 2010, the VK45DE engine was replaced by the exclusively developed VRH34A 3.4-litre engine. The season was not that successful, as the car only managed to win 2 races and 4 podium finishes. Team Impul finished 5th in standings. In 2011 and 2012, Team Mola with drivers Ronnie Quintarelli and Masataka Yanagida won back-to-back championships in both teams' and drivers' classifications. During the two dominant seasons, the car won 8 out of 16 races and achieved 19 podium finishes with three different teams. In addition, it also won the JAF Grand Prix in 2011, Quintarelli won the first race, starting from pole position, while Yanagida finished 2nd to score a podium finish with the fastest lap in the second race. Quintarelli again won the first race in the 2012 round, starting from 10th on the grid. Team Impul GT-R Nismo GT500 set the fastest lap. In the 2013 Super GT season, it only managed to score a race win and 4 podium finishes, Team Nismo finished 6th in standings. In the last ever JAF Grand Prix, team Impul scored a podium finish in the second race, finishing the race in 3rd position, starting from 7th on the grid.
In 2014, Super GT regulations were aligned with those of the Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters, and so the V8 engine was replaced by the NR20A 2.0-litre, 4-cylinder turbocharged engine. The car took the most out of the regulation overhaul, it repeatedly won both 2014 and 2015 championships with Team Nismo drivers, Quintarelli and Tsugio Matsuda. It won 7 races and 21 podium finishes during both seasons. In 2016, reigning champions ended up 3rd in standings, the car scored 5 race wins, 2 pole positions and 7 podium finishes with four different teams during the season. Although the team scored a race win, a pole position and 3 podium finishes, both Nismo drivers missed out in the championship by 2 points in 2017. Combined with other teams' results, the car ended the season with a race win, 2 pole positions, and 4 podium finishes.
Regulation changes in 2018 saw the beginning of an unsuccessful era for the GT-R Nismo GT500, as it only managed to achieve a race win, a pole position, and 2 podium finishes. End of the season, Team Nismo were a disappointing 8th in championship standings. The 2019 season saw improvements, attaining a race win, 3 pole positions, 2 fastest laps and 6 podium finishes during the season. Team Nismo finished 3rd in standings, 32.5 points behind the championship winners. In 2020, Team Nismo fell back to 5th in standings, as the car only scored 2 race wins, a fastest lap, and 3 podium finishes. Scoring 2 race wins and 6 podium finishes during the 2021 season, it was announced that the GT-R Nismo GT500 will be retired by the end of the season. Including its record 5 drivers' and 4 teams' championships, the GT-R Nismo GT500 has the most race wins for a GT500 car, a record 41 race wins and 89 podium finishes from 113 race starts, making it one of the most successful GT500 race cars of all time. The car was replaced by the Nissan Z GT500 for the 2022 season, after the model's 15-years of absence.
GT300
The GT-R Nismo GT3 made its Super GT debut in 2012 at the Okayama International Circuit, with drivers Katsumasa Chiyo and Yuhi Sekiguchi. The car won its first race in the fourth round of the season at Sportsland Sugo, and also scored a podium finish in the following round at Suzuka. It was 4th in the final standings. A couple of difficult seasons followed, in 2013 the car failed to score a single podium finish, in 2014 it only managed to win a race. But in the 2013 JAF Grand Prix, team NDDP Racing, with driver Daiki Sasaki won the first race, starting from pole position. In the second race, the car only managed to finish 7th, and ended up being the runner-up of the 2013 JAF Grand Prix. It set the fastest laps in both races, as Nismo Athlete Global Team and NDDP Racing set the fastest laps of the first and second races respectively. The car bounced back in the 2015 season, team Gainer No.10 car, driven by André Couto won the championship, scoring 2 race wins and 4 podium finishes. Including the results of team NDDP Racing, the car finished the season with a total of 4 race wins and 7 podium finishes.In 2016, the reigning champions only managed to achieve a podium finish at the Suzuka 10 Hour round. NDDP Racing finished the season 4th in standings, scored a race win, and 2 podium finishes during the season. In 2017, neither teams were able to score at least a podium finish. In 2018, Gainer participated with two upgraded GT-R Nismo GT3 race cars, No.10 car finished 5th in standings with a race win and two podium finishes, while the other car only managed to score a podium finish. In 2019, Gainer No.11 car won 2 races to finish 3rd in standings. No.10 car also won a race, and Kondo Racing scored a pole position and a podium finish. Kondo Racing with the GT-R Nismo GT3 Evo won the championship in 2020, with drivers Kiyoto Fujinami and João Paulo de Oliveira, they won 2 races and 3 podium finishes. No.11 car achieved a race win and 2 podium finishes, while Tomei Sports managed to score a pole position and a podium finish as well. Reigning champions returned to defend their title in 2021, but was unsuccessful as they finished the season 2nd in standings, with a race win and 3 podium finishes. No.11 car set a fastest lap, a podium finish, and two pole positions during the season.
Fujinami and Oliveira again won the championship in 2022, with a race win and two podium finishes. It was the 3rd Super GT GT300 championship win for the car. Gainer No.10 car also won a race win, a pole position, and 3 podium finishes, while the No.11 car achieved 2 podium finishes. For the first time, a third different team, Busou Drago Corse scored a podium finish at the Fuji GT 450 km race. Reigning champions Kondo Racing, along with teams NILZZ Racing, Tomei Sport and Gainer returned for the 2023 season. Fujinami was replaced by Teppei Natori. Kondo Racing won the second race of the season at Fuji, starting from pole position. Gainer No.11 car won the fourth round again at Fuji. Despite involving in unfortunate incidents, Kondo Racing could only manage to score a single point during both Suzuka and Sugo races, causing threats to their crucial title challenge. In the penultimate round, starting from a disappointing 17th on the grid, the team could only manage to finish 5th in the race. It mathematically eliminated them from the championship battle. The car finished 3rd in standings with 2 race wins, 1 pole position and 2 podium finishes.
2024 was a challenging season for the car, only managing to score 2 podium finishes—both in Fuji during the second and fourth rounds with Kondo Racing. Throughout the year, the car struggled significantly with Balance of Performance limitations, which drastically affected its pace on race days. For the first time in Super GT history, it finished four races outside the points. Oliveira expressed his concerns over the BoP regulations, claimed his team was being targeted due to the car’s form in recent years—having won the championship in 2020 and 2022—and addressed the growing performance imbalance between Group GT3 and GTA-GT300 cars—it was underscored by final standings, which saw GTA-GT300 entries occupying all top three positions, while his team finished 6th. The team began the 2025 season on a high with a podium finish at the opening round in Okayama. However, BoP-related issues persisted, and the team limited themselves for consistent point finishes, in order to maintain favorable BoP adjustments, which could improve the chances of competing for the title. The sixth round at Sugo was highly optimistic for the car's championship battle, finishing 2nd—just 0.660 seconds behind the winners—saw the car move up from 5th to 2nd in the drivers' standings. Whilst carrying the highest number of success ballast among the title contenders, the car finished 4th twice, starting from the bottom order in the final two rounds. End of the season, with two podium finishes, it finished 2nd in the drivers' standings, just 1 point behind, and 2nd in the teams' standings, tied on points with champions K2 R&D LEON Racing.