Weekend of firsts for Nissan at Goodwood

Nissan flew in the Pivo concept electric vehicle from Japan specifically for the Festival of Speed where it featured in the Technology Pavilion. It’s only been shown once before in Europe, at the 2006 Geneva Motor Show. The vehicle has no reverse gear, so to change direction the whole cabin revolves and it can then drive off in the opposite direction.

Nissan produced another three firsts on the track in the Hillclimb competition with Anthony Reid behind the wheel of not one, but two cars. Anthony won the overall competition in the 2004 championship-winning Japanese super GT500 car – the same car that won last year in the hands of Richard Lyons – with a spectacular time of 53.78 seconds, despite the horrendous weather conditions.

Anthony also claimed two other medals with class wins – one with the 1999 BTCC winning Primera and the other with the GT500. The Primera also finished third fastest overall making it an identical end to last year – GT500 first, Primera third.

Commenting on his phenomenal success over the weekend, Anthony said: “Nissan is a big supporter of the Goodwood Festival of Speed and having finished 2nd and 3rd in previous years, I was delighted to get the opportunity to drive the awesome Japanese GT Nissan 350Z. It was a big challenge driving two cars in the competition. On Saturday, after driving the Primera, I had to get on my bike and pedal like mad down the hill to get back to the start in time to get behind the wheel of the 350Z.

“The weather had been difficult throughout the weekend but the 350Z handled the conditions beautifully and delivered a stunning performance to win the Festival of Speed when it counted on Sunday.”

Nissan had another car taking part in the Supercar run – the RML prepared Nissan 350Z equipped for the Dunlop Sport Maxx cup race series. On Sunday, ex-Boyzone and Celebrity Love Island star Shane Lynch, an accomplished racing driver, took the car up the hill. The 350Z has already won its first two debut races at Snetterton in the capable hands of Jethro Bovingdon – Road Test Editor of EVO magazine.

Nissan also chose to test a prototype of its forthcoming new sports car due to be unveiled at the Tokyo Motor Show in October 2007. It was driven in the Supercar run by Nissan’s Executive Vice President in charge of Product Planning and Business Strategy, Carlos Tavares.