Save Remove Download Share Subscribe Photos / Galleries / Videos January 29, 2018 DAYTONA BEACH, Florida – While the Nissan-powered ESM team is disappointed to not finish this year's Rolex 24 at Daytona, the team displayed an impressive pace that proved the bright green prototypes will again be a strong contender in 2018. Both the No. 2 and No. 22 Nissan-powered prototypes were forced to charge from the back of the pack after a precautionary pre-session engine change for the No. 2 and a crash in qualifying for the No. 22 entry. However, once the green flag dropped, both were quickly on the move. The No. 2 of Ryan Dalziel moved from 20th to 10th before his first pit stop on lap 20. Nicolas Lapierre in the No. 22 car moved all the way up to third place after starting 18th. The No. 22 Nissan-powered entry led the race twice and both cars enjoyed extended runs in second place during the endurance classic. Lapierre also held the fastest lap of the race for more than five hours. His time of 1:37.570 on lap 59 was the second fastest lap of the race. The progress of the Nissan-powered cars was hindered by tire issues also experienced by much of the prototype field. Both the No. 2 and No. 22 cars were forced to make unscheduled pit stops. The Rolex 24 turned out to be a race of attrition. There were only a few yellow flags, so the overall record for the race distance was obliterated. The winning car completed 808 laps and 2,876.48 miles. Of the 20 prototypes entered, only eight made it to the checkered flag without significant delays from mechanical issues or contact. For the No. 2 of Dalziel, Scott Sharp and Olivier Pla, their race came to an end in the early morning at 3:00 a.m. when the car succumbed to gearbox failure. Then, before sunrise on lap 438, the No. 22 car of Lapierre, Pipo Derani and Johannes vanOverbeek was also forced out of the race with a turbo oil line leak. "Wow. I feel horrible for the entire Tequila Patrón ESM team – for Patrón, Onroak, Nissan and of course all of the guys," Scott Sharp said. "Both cars really came alive during the race and we all felt if we could just stay out of trouble we could be contenders at the end. It's such a shame." The team will now turn its attention to the Twelve Hours of Sebring scheduled for March 17. "It was really hard to retire after such a team effort," Lapierre said. "We fought to come back after a few punctures, and we had the pace to fight for the win. From today, we will focus on the Twelve Hours of Sebring." 10hr52m to go: Sadly the No.2 is out with a terminal gearbox issue and it now appears the No.22 is done as well. Our 2018 @Rolex24Hours wasn't to be. Many thanks to all the @PatronESM for their hard work and efforts. On to Sebring. pic.twitter.com/L9AgTUgx1K — Nissan NISMO (@NISMO) January 28, 2018 After 8.5 hours @PatronESM’s Scott Sharp reports in on the progress of the @Nissan-powered DPi’s at the @Rolex24Hours. pic.twitter.com/KpSepOTieC — Nissan NISMO (@NISMO) January 28, 2018 Video hosted on Twitter may not play in Internet Explorer (IE). If the video above does not play and you are using IE, try a different browser. NISMO Calendar February 2-4 Asian Le Mans Series, Sepang International Circuit, Malaysia March 14-17 Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring, Sebring International Raceway, Sebring, Florida # # # Contact Anna Teslik Nissan Global Motorsport Communications Manager +33 7 7614 7286 ateslik@nissan-europe.com Paul Ryan Nissan/NISMO Global Motorsport Communications Marketing and PR Manager +1 678 644 0404 paul@nismosupport.com Issued by Nissan Files 2018 NISMO Rolex 24 Report.pdf (351 KB) Save Remove Download Share Photos / Galleries / Videos Subscribe to Email Alerts Files 2018 NISMO Rolex 24 Report.pdf (351 KB)