2017 Dakar Nissan Stage 7 Update

And then there was one...or so it appears.

#377--The Navara of Carlos Aguero appears to be out of the race.  One of the remaining 64 racers at the beginning of Stage 7, and with 62 entrants showing as having completed today's marathon stage (meaning no assistance other than the driver and codriver or spare parts outside of what you carry are allowed), Aguero is not among them.  Already many hours down to the leaders today may have been the final straw.  We will have to await tomorrow to see if the blade finally fell for the last 100% Nissan effort...

#334--Renault Duster of Facundo Ardusso managed a 33rd position for the stage on the day leaving them in 25th overall.  Hopefully they can hold on for a few more stages and a Renault may be Nissan's last remaining hope for ANY finish...

Dakar 2017 Rest Day Update

And so it goes...

As of the 2017 Rest Day, the unofficial half way point of the rally we are down to two Nissan vehicles remaining in the event.  Ronald Basso is now an official withdrawal on Stage 5 of the event.

What is left is the following...

#334--the Renault VK56 Duster with Facundo Ardusso at the helm.  Despite five prior DNFs at the Dakar, this is now officially the farthest in the event he has ever gotten.  He has been been consistently finishing in the mid 20's in this year's version with an 18th place finish on Stage 5.  Overall Ardusso stands in 24th overall some five hours behind the leader.

#377--The Navara of Carlos Aguero has been subject to a whopping nine hours of penalties, likely meaning that he has had at least one instance of not finishing in the allowable time but being allowed to continue.

Lets see if they can bring it home...and lets see if we can get some more Nissans built for Rally-Raid in '18...afterall...the Navara is one of the Dakar's official support vehicles...Oh, and since its South America....its NOT a Navara...its a Frontier...So why don't we have this here yet??

Dakar Stage 4 Nissan Update!

Boy if yesterday didn't prove that you're in the heart of the Dakar, today sure did.  Yesterday you had Nasser Al-Attiyah ripping an entire wheel and axle assembly off the rear of his vehicle and having to withdraw (he was the prerace favorite to win in the car category) and a motorcycle rider getting hit by lightning and STILL finishing the stage.  Today you had the prerace favorite on bikes, Toby Price, crashing, breaking his femur and having to withdraw and another of the favorites to win, Carlos Sainz badly wad up his Peugeot pretty bad putting his effort in question.

So where do the remaining Nissans stand?

#334 of Facundo Ardusso in the VK56 Renault Duster is still running, finished 26th on the day which will likely leave them right where they were coming into the day which is 28th place overall.

#337 of Ronald Basso was starting the day in 38th in his Navara but is currently one of the 18 starters on the day who has not crossed the finish line yet...

#377 of Carlos Aguero wasn't finished at the time I checked things last night but evidently did make it in, though after the cutoff time as he suffered a four hour penalty and had dropped to 66th overall.  He started the fourth stage but like Basso, he has not crossed the finish line and remains unknown if he can finish and continue.

Dakar 2017 Stage 3 Nissan Update!

Day 3...a day in which the event's favorite, Nasser al-Attiyah crashed out ripping a wheel off his Toyota, no one could say it was easy to get through the stage.  The stage involved some serious climbing to over 15,000 feet, serious navigation requirements, and rougher terrain...perhaps today was the day the real race started.

#315 of Emiliano Spataro and his VK56 Renault Duster appear to have gotten off the starting line and through some of the initial checkpoints but there is currently no record of them having finished the stage with currently only 53 of the 79 daily starters finishing so far some six hours after the fastest drivers of the day completed the stage.  Indeed in the last half hour, Spataro posted via Twitter the following "We are out of the Dakar, a failure in the design of the chassis of the new Duster us leaves without possibilities of follow... a day very sad..."  Sounds like a dangerous deformation of the cage or structure of the vehicle?  Regardless...that puts them out and one Duster remaining--at least it wasn't the fault of the Nissan engine!

#334 of Facundo Ardusso and the sister Duster seemed not to have the same problems, finishing the stage in 27th near two hours behind the leaders.  

#337 of Ronald Basso's Navara finished 38th on the day, three hours back of the day's winner.

#377 of Carlos Aguero and his Navara have also not finished yet but with no Twitter feed or social media postings, it is unknown if he has had to withdraw or not.

The overall standings of the #334 and #337 are unknown at the moment as the Dakar site's standings are not updated/available at this point...

So it looks like 50% of Nissan related competitors are out after three stages...ah well...so it goes...if it was easy....

Dakar 2017 Stage 2 Nissan Update

I'll keep providing these as long as there is a Nissan in the race...might be a day more...might be the whole event....

Today had a ridiculously long transit (like some 5 hours) before the race even began...given the temps are in the 90s and up and the road was dead straight it could not have been the most fun day.  The stage itself was also dead straight with zero navigation required and much of the terrain being hardpack dirt inducing a heavy right foot and little steering.

#315 of Emiliano Spataro in the Renault Duster VK56 powered SUV finished 29th on the day, 39 minutes back of Sebastian Loeb and now sits 27th overall.

#334 of Facundo Ardusso in the sister car to the #315 had a great day for the inexperienced driver finishing 24th, 33 minutes back and now sits 24th overall.

#337 of Ronald Basso in the Navara finished 36th and is 34th overall, one hour back of the current overall leader.

#377 of Carlos Aguero in the other Navara finished 64th, two and a half hours back of the day's winner which does not bode well given how easy the terrain was today.  They also sit in 64th overall for the event.

Nissans at the 2017 Dakar

In an annual exercise in self flagellation I will recount what Nissans there are at this year's Dakar.  Every year it seems the numbers dwindle further and without Jurgen Schroeder and a few South African Nissan efforts at this year's Dakar the numbers are even smaller.

#315 Emiliano Spataro--Actually in a 4WD Renault Duster powered by a Nissan VK56.  In this same vehicle Emiliano finished 16th in the '16 Dakar so a top 20 finish should be possible.  He finished 14th on Stage 1 earlier today.

#334 Facundo Arduos--A teammate to the #315 effort and also in a sister 4WD Renault Duster with a VK56 powerplant.  Facundo is a Dakar rookie and his codriver has never finished a Dakar in five prior attempts.  While the vehicle has a top 20 in it, they are best served acting as a water carrier for the #315.  They finished 33rd to start the race.

#337 Ronald Basso--The highest ranked true Nissan is a 4WD Nissan Navara managed by JCB Racing.  Ronald has finished 25th and 37th in the '13 and '10 Dakar races along with three other DNFs so he has the experience necessary to perform well.  They finished 36th today.







#377 Carlos Alberto Villegas Aguero--Another 4WD Navara here from Jaton Racing this time but diesel here vs. petrol.  Carlos has one prior Dakar under his belt though DNF'd in '16.  They finished 69th on the day.


Annnnnd....that's it.  There is #359 of Gerard Tramoni which is a Navara by its body but contains a Chevrolet LS series V8 at its heart so I don't really count that...

Nissan and Dos Santos Perform Well at Baja Espana

I hadn't realized until now that Ricardo Leal Dos Santos actually had won a stage at the Dakar in '12 as a Mini driver so its good to see him driving a proper car in a Nissan now.

Entered in his first FIA cross-countrry rally in '15 behind the wheel of a T1 Nissan Navara, Dos Santos picked up a fifth place finish at this past weekends Baja Espana.  A great initial outing and from what I am reading he does plan on contesting Dakar '16.  Dos Santos had a successful Dakar '15 finishing 25th overall and the highest Nissan in the event.  The Portuguese driver has teamed with a Brazilian co-driver and should be getting in some practice in other cross-country rallies the remainder of the year.  Hoping for an even stronger result in Dakar '16...

http://www.bajaaragon.com/eng

https://www.facebook.com/R.LealdosSantos

All Nissan Dealerships to Receive Diesel Training in Preparation for 2016 Titan

There's an item I hadn't thought of.

With the upcoming introduction of the 2016 Nissan Titan at the January 2015 Detroit Auto Show, many Nissan dealerships will find themselves in a position where their techs may never have worked on a diesel engine before, or at the very least, are unfamiliar with the Cummins diesel platform.

In order to assist their franchises in getting their staff up to date, Nissan is going to be taking technicians from each dealership offsite to do training specifically on the Cummins engine specifically and diesel engines in general.  Hopefully the platform is buttoned up enough that their coming skills are not of much use in the near future but it does stand as another example of just how committed Nissan has to be to this new product.  If the diesel Titan fails it will be a sunk cost of billions of dollars, one which would hamper Nissan from doing anything truly innovative in the near term.

Nissan sending its techs to diesel school...

Introducing the New 2015 Nissan Frontier!

Yup...this is it.  While the rest of the world will get the Frontier that was shown a few months back as the next generation Navara and will be produced in Thailand for distribution for 43 other countries, THIS will be the Frontier that we will see here in the States.


With tons of torque immediately on demand thanks to its electric motor and no use of gasoline this will be the perfect work truck for your local plumber and electrician.  Plus it makes a great looking little beach truck for surfers and hipsters everywhere.  Can't wait to get my hands on one!

Nissans at the Baja Russia Northern Forest Rally...

So now we're into the '14 racing season proper...stage rallies, Baja events, rally-raids, etc.

This past weekend was one of the more unique events on the annual schedule.  The Baja Russia Northern Forest Rally has been going on for a number of years and is part of the FIA's calendar of cross-country raids and Baja rallies.  Held in the typically deep snow of NorthWestern Russia, nearly on the border of Finland--closer to Helsinki than to Moscow, it runs a tight course through icy forest trails.

The best finish for a Nissan this weekend was the eighth place finish (of 41) of Dmitriy Ievlev and the PEC team Nissan Navara T1.1

Four Nissans entered the event and three finished in the aforementioned 8th, 12th and 24th positions.  Of note here is that this event drew some efforts from fairly far away including Reinaldo Varela of Brazil with an Overdrive Racing Toyota Hilux, Yazeed Al Rajhi who traded in his Robby Gordon Hummer for the weekend for another Overdrive Hilux and a couple of Italian teams.  In terms of vehicles there were a few oddities like FJ Cruisers, a Jeep Cherokee, a Ford Raptor and a Dakar spec Mini.

So we have a Dakar spec Mini as well as Toyotas and a BMW all out getting some early mileage in on the vehicles and their drivers...

Next Nissan Frontier to be a Diesel?? Or a Hybrid??

Sure sounds like it according to Fred Diaz who is head of US sales.  All powertrains are under consideration and given that Nissan has moved to put a diesel in the 2016 Titan would it surprise anyone if a smaller diesel ended up in the next generation Frontier?

Unchanged in terms of basic body design and powertrain options since its introduction as a 2005 model, the Nissan Frontier saw one of its best years of sales in 2013 with over 60,000 units sold in the US.  Worldwide the Navara is also a successful model but one that comes with a turbo diesel engine not available here.  Though the Truck Trend article mentions that they test drove just such a model at the Nissan 360 event in California in 2013, I wouldn't anticipate that this exact engine would end up in a US version of the next Frontier.  This engine has been in use for these past near 10 years and any updated Frontier would likely receive an updated and more efficient engine as well.  The suggestion of a small Cummins diesel is an exciting proposition

The more interesting possibility is that of a hybrid option.  Nissan likes to be seen as an innovative company on the cutting edge of automotive options--the first mini-pickup in the US, first truck with a crew cab option, first mass market all electric with the Leaf, etc.  So it wouldn't shock me to see Nissan be the first to offer a hybrid small pickup or perhaps a hybrid turbo diesel?  Or perhaps the "First Manufacturer to offer a Cummins diesel in a Mid-Size truck"??

In any case, the next Frontier is likely to stay "about" the same size as it is today given it will still need to differentiate itself from the new Titan though, as with the current version, the two models will see a number of identical parts--axles, hubs, frame, etc. to curb costs.  With the Titan rounding into its final form before its introduction to the world in less than a year, the next Frontier is definitely entering the design phase as we speak.

Nissan Frontier--Diesel? Hybrid? Cummins?

Baja Portalegre 2013...

This Rally Raid event took place a couple months back.  In reality for such a small country Portugal certainly has its fair share of big time offroad events including the WRC Portugal event and this, long form Rally Raid contest.

This was the 27th year of the Baja Portalegre, making it one of the longest held Raid events in the world and as it is held annually in early November, serves as the final warmup for numerous teams heading to the Dakar--including the Mini team in recent years, Colin McRae in his first every Rally Raid (in a Nissan pickup) and the dominant VW Toureg team featuring Carlos Sainz and American Mark Miller.

For reference out there, the base entry fee for the event was 2,000 Euros and the Special Stage mileage was 418kms.

At the end of the day it was the Mitsubishi Racing Lancer of Miguel Barbosa (a local Portugal driver) taking the win with an average of 71 kmph.  The top flight effort and Dakar Mini driver of Krzyszstof Holocwzyc finished second and the Overdrive Toyota HiLux of Reinoldo Varelo of Brazil finished third.

The top finishing Nissan was the Polish team of Marek Dabrowski with his Navara who ended up in seventh.  Other Nissan entries finished 10th, 15th, 21st, 25th, and 27th among the 34 finishers and approximately 42 entrants.

Oh and the BMW shown was  of two 325s in the event with the other one taking the class win for "cars" showing there's no excuse for rally cars not to do these more WRC style Rally Raids...

Nissan Navara/Frontier Build For Dakar 2015

Yup...2015...

No, we're not in '14 yet but builds for Dakar '15 are already underway.  One of these happens to be a Nissan being built in South Africa for Johan van Staden.  This Dakar spec vehicle it is being built by Stuart Thompson Graeme Thornton and Achim Bergman, also of South Africa who built the recent BMW X3 which took the last win of the South Africa Off Road Championship in '13.

I'll let those who are more technically inclined and knowledgeable than I to pick apart just what the particular parts of this vehicle are in terms of shock placement, suspension geometry, etc. What I can tell you is that the little grey box in the rear of the cab is an air conditioning unit sourced from Glyn Hall at Hallspeed of S.A. (the former Nissan Motorsports manager and now overseer of the Toyota team heading to Dakar), the engine in the Frontier/Navara is a V8 (VK56?) and that the fuel cell is 480 liters--almost 127 gallons!!   Are those shocks Reigers??  I believe I spy a sequential gear shifter--a Sadev??  Are the rear links beefy enough?

I am unsure of what the rear diff is though the previous Navaras built for Dakar and RallyRaid events have replaced the standard diff with that from a Nissan Patrol and they may have done the same here.  The have also gone from a rear leaf spring on the stock Navara/Frontier with a coilover setup (4 link?) and widened the front track (though not by a ton and those arms look a little wimpy for my tastes) and they have sourced some fiberglass parts that I haven't seen available anywhere as well.

Please chime in with what you see here in terms of the design and parts used.  I'm interested in what people with more knowledge of these builds than I think about it.  I've reached out to try and get more details of the build and will try to update this if I get more info.

Nissan Grabs a Podium Spot!

Finally!

It took till the last event of the South African offroad racing season (last weekend) to happen but Nissan finally grabbed a rung on the Donaldson Cross Country Championship ladder.  Even better is that it was a Nissan wearing the livery of the event's primary sponsor Atlas Copco (a Swedish industrial equipment company).

Gary Bertholdt and Siegfried Rousseau took their Nissan Navara to a third place finish in a time of five hours and twenty minutes--some 3 minutes adrift of the winner Willem Vos and his BMW X3.  In reaching out to Gary and asking him how the Navara performed this was his response "The Navara was fantastic. It is an amazing vehicle. It's very competitive with the works Fords and Toyotas and that was why we were able to get fourth in the championship ahead of one of the works Fords".  And this is in fact true.  The team of Bertholdt and Rousseau finished fourth on the year in the South African--Donaldson Cross Country Championship.  Not bad given that most of these top teams are headed to Dakar in about a month.

There were six Nissan's entered in the event and six of them finished with three in the top ten out of 30 entries.


South Africa Off-Road Racing...