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Nissan GT-R LM hobbled by 'very minor' issue during Sebring test

We're always going to have a soft spot for the Rolex 24 at Daytona. It marks the start of the endurance racing season, after all. But it's the endurance racing circus' three-hour drive south for the annual to-do at Sebring International Raceway that really sets our hearts aflutter. That's because Sebring is generally used by the biggest teams as a tune-up for June's 24 Hours of Le Mans. The Floridian race might only be half as long, but the sheer brutality of the racing surface makes it a great test of a racer's durability, hence why it's a popular stop on the way to France. As it turns out, it was the track's roughness that was the reason Nissan decided to piggyback on one of Audi's tests at the south Florida circuit, Autosport reports. But an issue "to do with the engine mounting" on the front-engined GT-R LM racer sidelined the team. "It was actually a very minor thing, but we just don't have a spare here," Technical Director Ben Bowlby told Autosport. "We've spent a lot of time at Austin, which is very smooth, so we wanted to come to a particularly harsh environment like Sebring." While it seems rather silly to test somewhere in an attempt to "accelerate the durability cycle" without packing a full complement of spares, the rough surface of Sebring has a tendency to wreak havoc with even the most reliable of parts. Nissan did manage to run a total of 68 laps over the course of two days, with drivers Marc Gene and Olivier Pla at the wheel. At present, Nissan won't be running the GT-R LM in the actual 12 Hours of Sebring – it's first race outing will instead be at the 6 Hours of Silverstone, running next month. Related Video:

Nissan leaning on JATCO to remedy CVT problems

Nissan's decision to fit continuously variable transmissions across even more of its new models may be coming back to bite the Japanese automaker, as it's been hampered by customer satisfaction issues relating to its XTronic CVTs, which are provided by a supplier called JATCO.
From what we're understanding, the issue largely relates to customers' unfamiliarity with the non-traditional shift nature of a CVT. Dealers have reported complaints and service visits from owners over the belt-driven automatics (did these people not test drive the cars before they bought them and notice that they don't shift conventionally?).
The company, which Nissan owns 75 percent of, has come under fire from none other than Nissan CEO Carlos Ghosn, who's spoken about JATCO and its troubles rather openly. "Every time you launch a new CVT you always have some risks," Ghosn said in an interview with Automotive News. "So we now have a process by which, before we launch any new CVT, [JATCO] come before the Nissan executive committee to explain all the measures they have taken to make sure there are no surprises."

Carlos Ghosn's rise and fall — and dramatic flight — streams in August

It turned out that Carlos Ghosn was not the perfect CEO after all.  On the run for nearly five years and living in exile in Lebanon for part of that time, Ghosn’s story — he was the former global chief of Nissan and Renault — and his subsequent dramatic escape from Japan is the stuff that Â… well, documentaries are made of. On August 25, Wanted: The Escape of Carlos Ghosn, a series in four parts, will begin streaming on Apple TV+. This new screen story (there have been others previously) hones in on his rise to fame, his multiple arrests for financial misdeeds and his made-for-Hollywood escape from Japan. Ghost had contacted a former Green Beret and was hustled out of the country by private jet in December, 2019, hidden in a musical instrument box. originally designed to hold a trombone. Ghosn has lived in Lebanon, where he has citizenship, ever since. To this point Lebanon has refused requests to extradite him. The Apple TV+ documentary will cover all of this, with never-before-seen footage and interviews. Mike Taylor, the former Green Beret who helped Ghosn escape, will tell his side of the story alongside Ghosn and others. The film has been executive produced by James Gay-Rees and Paul Martin from Formula 1: Drive to Survive. GhosnÂ’s background puts perspective on the story. He worked for 18 years with Michelin North America, where he was ultimately appointed as chief executive in 1990. In 1996, he joined Renault, and played a pivotal role in the alliance formed between Renault and Nissan. In mid-2001, he was appointed as NissanÂ’s new chief executive, and by 2005 he was running both Nissan and Renault. But in 2018 he was arrested at the Tokyo International Airport on allegations of under-reporting his salary and misusing company assets. He was subsequently arrested three more times on similar charges. He was held in and out of Japanese prison through much of 2019 before he was released on bail that April, eight months before his escape. Ghosn recently filed a lawsuit against Nissan, seeking more than $1 billion from the company. He accuses the automaker and others of defamation and fabricating evidence. Related video: This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings.