It’s a tough act to follow.
Then again not much can top V8 great Jim Richards calling an unruly crowd throwing beer cans at him on the podium “a pack of arseholes” on live national television.
No wonder leading driver Todd Kelly has played down expectations ahead of Nissan’s long awaited return to Mount Panorama.
But he’s not being coy.
Richards and co-driver Mark Skaife’s 4WD turbo charged Skyline brute dubbed “Godzilla” was so dominant when Nissan was last sighted in the category on the mountain, organisers changed the rules the next year so they couldn’t compete.
They sealed back to back Great Race wins in 1992, albeit on a lap countback due to miserable conditions that matched the Ford-Holden faithful’s mood as they took aim at Richards.
This year Kelly’s Nissan team arrived with Altimas – a modified V6 road car yet to feature in Australian show rooms – still to be fitted with engines for the Bathurst enduro.
“It’s unheard of at Bathurst,” Kelly told AAP.
The only similarity will be Nissan drivers Michael Caruso and Daniel Gaunt wearing retro race suits based on Richards and Skaife’s 1992 design.
Kelly claims V8 rivals had a 15-year head start on his Nissan team when they announced the manufacturer would make a much anticipated return this year.
A quick look around their Bathurst garage shows he is not kidding.
Engines are still being tweaked as they work out fuel economy issues barely 24 hours before practice starts on Thursday.
The Skyline of old dominated to win back to back Bathursts, at one stage stretching their lead by 15 seconds a lap.
The Altimas that arrived at the mountain this year have not even completed 1000km in one session.
Nissan may be the year’s big improvers after completing an historic 1-2 finish at Winton in August thanks to James Moffat and Caruso.
But Kelly reckons his team’s goal at Bathurst is simply for all four of their vehicles to finish.
“It’s a lot different game now, the rules are so tight that we will never see again what happened 21 years ago,” he said.
“The only way you can get to that sort of domination is using a huge amount of time and effort and of course money.
“Our goal is to get four cars home – that would be a pretty big achievement.”
Richards and Skaife may have copped jeers 21 years ago but Kelly reckons his Nissan team had only been met with cheers since their Tuesday arrival.
“It’s been really surprising, a real eye opener,” Kelly said.
“There have been people coming up to us and saying they started watching V8s again because more manufacturers, in particular Nissan have come back.”
Three practice sessions will be held on Thursday from 1020 AEDT.
