Nissan Motorsport celebrates launch of Altima sedan with special branding at Phillip Island

To celebrate the launch of the all-new Nissan Altima sedan into the Australian new car market, Nissan Motorsport will carry special ‘Altima’ branding on its four Nissan Altima V8 Supercars at Event 12 of the 2013 V8 Supercars Championship at the Phillip Island Grand Prix Circuit in Victoria, Australia this weekend.

The Altima branding will appear on the front bar of the Jack Daniel’s Nissan Altimas of Todd and Rick Kelly and the top of the windscreens on the Norton Nissan Altimas of Michael Caruso and James Moffat.

Todd Kelly and David Russell

Photo by: Edge Photographics

The Nissan Altima V8 Supercar was unveiled to the world on 30 October 2012 in Melbourne, before making its racing debut at the Clipsal 500 in Adelaide in March this year. The Nissan Altima V8 Supercar then scored its first victory in the hands of Moffat on 24 August 2013 at Winton Motor Raceway in rural Victoria, with team-mate Caruso following him home in second place.

The Nissan Altima is on-sale in Nissan dealerships around Australia from the first week of December. See Nissan.com.au/Altima for more information.

The Phillip Island event is the penultimate event of the 2013 V8 Supercars Championship. Practice kicks off on Friday, with qualifying and the 60/60 Super Sprint race on Saturday, followed by two qualifying sessions and two 100 kilometre races on Sunday.

The season concludes at the Sydney Olympic Park street circuit in New South Wales on 6-8 December 2013.

Todd Kelly, #7 Jack Daniel’s Nissan Altima: “We’ve been in a unique situation in that we’ve had the race car for nearly 12 months and not been able to leave the track in a Nissan Altima road car,” said Todd Kelly.

“All that now changes and I am extremely excited to have my race car represented on the road.”

Rick Kelly, #15 Jack Daniel’s Nissan Altima: “From a fan’s perspective, there has been a huge amount of hype around the launch of the road-going Altima, so the fact that it’s now in Nissan dealerships is very exciting,” said Rick Kelly.

“I flew to the global unveil of the Altima in New York in Easter last year, and it was exciting to see it then. The car has an amazing list of features that are a good advance on what’s already on the market. I can’t wait to jump in and drive one of our local versions.”

Michael Caruso, #36 Norton Nissan Altima: “It’s very exciting for everyone at Nissan and everyone at the Nissan Motorsport race team. As drivers, we’ve been lucky enough to drive the Altima all year, but now, people will have the chance to drive one for themselves,” said Michael Caruso.

“It will be great to have a steer of the Australian road version. I was lucky enough to drive a couple of Altimas while we were in America, so I can’t wait to feel what they’re like on Australian roads.”

James Moffat, #360 Norton Nissan Altima: “We have been racing the Altima all year, so it’s great that the car is now available for consumer purchase,” said James Moffat.

“We’ve had a lot of people ask when it will be available, so it’s great that there is now correlation between what we race and what we have on the road. It’s a hugely successful passenger car in the US market and I see no reason why it can’t be a success here in Australia as well.

“Hopefully we can start doing some more winning on Sunday, selling on Monday!”

Nissan Motorsport