Nissan has released a video of its efforts in the 1992 Japan Sports Prototype Championships. The 1992 season was a significant one as it marked the tenth and final year of the JSPC. With the bubble economy having burst the league struggled to get automakers’ participation. However, in its sunset year Nissan was on a dominant streak to claim its third “double title” (winning both Constructors and Drivers Championships).
Aside from being JSPC’s last year, 1992 was also notable for allowing both the old Group C racers and the next-generation prototypes to compete at the same time. Older cars, like the Nissan R92CP or Toyota 92CV, both with turbo V8s, were classified into Group C1. Newer cars like the V12-powered Nissan NP35 or V10 Toyota TS010 were classified into Group C.
The newer cars didn’t enter the fray until the final two rounds, but once the Toyota TS010 arrived it trounced the R92CP. Nevertheless, Nissan was able to send its 800-horsepower R92CP off in a blaze of glory at the hands of its star drivers Kazuyoshi Hoshino and Toshio Suzuki. When all was said and done, Nissan had won the Constructors Championship and Hoshino the Drivers Championship.
More impressively, this threepeat took place in parallel as the R32 Skyline GT-R was dominating the Japan Touring Car Championships. The Nissan motorsports dynasty was at its peak, even though the party would come to an end with Nissan’s near-bankruptcy and takeover by Renault at the close of the decade.
the glory days