Sumo Power

Last updated

A Nissan GT-R entered by Sumo Power GT in the FIA GT1 World Championship Sumo Power Nissan 23.jpg
A Nissan GT-R entered by Sumo Power GT in the FIA GT1 World Championship

Sumo Power is a British car tuning company based in Rye, East Sussex, England. Founded in 2002, Sumo Power specializes in custom tuning Japanese imports, including the Nissan Skyline GT-R and Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution, as well as the importation and sale of many Japanese performance parts, including being an official British distributor for HKS Europe Ltd.

Contents

Sumo Power regularly competes in drag racing and drifting events with their tuned cars, and has recently expanded their efforts into rallying and sports car racing. In 2009 Sumo Power merged with JR Motorsports Group (JRM), an experienced motorsport development company which already served as the official team for Mitsubishi Motors UK in the British Rally Championship. Sumo Power and JRM now serve as the official importer of the Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution X to Britain.

In 2010, Sumo Power and JRM partnered with Nismo to serve as one of two teams representing Nissan in the inaugural FIA GT1 World Championship. The team, entered under the Sumo Power GT title, campaigned two Nissan GT-Rs, with a line-up including British drivers Jamie Campbell-Walter, Peter Dumbreck, and Warren Hughes, as well as Nismo factory driver Michael Krumm. [1] Sumo Power returned for 2011 with four Nissans, with JR Motorsports representing the second squad. JR Motorsports won the Driver's Championship with Michael Krumm and Lucas Luhr, but failed to win the Team's Championship.

For 2012, the team competed in the FIA World Endurance Championship in LMP1 with an HPD ARX-03a.

As of April 2014, Sumo Power is under new ownership and based in Littleport.

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nismo</span> Nissan motorsports division

Nissan Motorsports International, abbreviated as Nismo, is a division of Nissan Motorsports & Customizing focused in motorsport and performance-oriented car models for Nissan. Nismo was initially a company, Nissan Motorsports International Co., Ltd., formed in 1984 as a result of a merger of two motorsport departments, being the in-house tuning, motorsports and performance subsidiary of Nissan. It has competed in JSPC, JTCC, the 24 Hours of Le Mans and the 24 Hours of Daytona. They currently participate in Super GT and Formula E. Nismo ceased to be a company in April 2022 by being merged with sister company Autech into a new Nissan subsidiary, Nissan Motorsport & Customizing.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Group A</span> Motorsport category for race and rally cars

Group A is a set of motorsport regulations administered by the FIA covering production derived touring cars for competition, usually in touring car racing and rallying. In contrast to the short-lived Group B and Group C, Group A vehicles were limited in terms of power, weight, allowed technology and overall cost. Group A was aimed at ensuring numerous entries in races of privately owned vehicles.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Michael Krumm</span> German racing driver

Michael Krumm is a German former professional racing driver and current team manager at TOM'S in Super GT. Krumm is best-known for his successes in the All-Japan GT Championship, where he triumphed in the GT500 class in 1997 and 2003 for TOM'S and Nismo, respectively.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jamie Campbell-Walter</span> British racing driver (born 1972)

Jamie Oliver Campbell-Walter is a British professional racing driver. He was born in Oban, Scotland on 16 December 1972. He won the FIA GT Championship in 2000 and took a World Endurance Championship title in 2013 as an Aston Martin Racing factory driver. He now owns and runs Bullet Sports Management with business partner and former team-mate Nicolas Minassian.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">FIA GT1 World Championship</span> World championship sports car racing series

The FIA GT1 World Championship was a world championship sports car racing series, developed by the SRO Group and regulated by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA), that was held from 2010 to 2012. It featured multiple grand tourer race cars—based on production road cars and conforming with the GT1 (2010–2011) and GT3 (2012) regulations—that competed in one-hour races on multiple continents. All cars were performance balanced, with weight and restrictor adjustments, to artificially equalise their performance. Championships were awarded each season for drivers and teams.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2010 FIA GT1 World Championship</span>

The 2010 FIA GT1 World Championship was the inaugural FIA GT1 World Championship, a motor racing competition reserved for FIA GT1 cars. The championship was a replacement for the FIA GT Championship which had been held annually from 1997 to 2009. It was the first sports car racing series to be sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA) as a World Championship since the demise of the World Sportscar Championship at the end of the 1992 season.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chris Buncombe</span>

Christopher James Buncombe is a British racing driver who made his last appearance at the Le Mans 24 Hours was in 2011. He joined Aston Martin Racing at the end of the 2009 season when he drove in the Le Mans Series scoring a podium finish on his debut with the team at Nürburgring driving the 008 Aston Martin LMP1 car. Chris won the 2007 24 Hours of Le Mans in the LMP2 class driving for Binnie Motorsports in their Lola B05/40-Zytek.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2010 RAC Tourist Trophy</span>

The 2010 RAC Tourist Trophy was an auto race held at the Silverstone Circuit, Northamptonshire and Buckinghamshire, Great Britain from 30 April–2 May. The event, the second round of the 2010 FIA GT1 World Championship season, was among the first to use the revised 5.900 km (3.666 mi) Arena layout of the Silverstone Circuit that was completed in early 2010. The GT1 series was part of the larger Silverstone Supercar 2010 event, sharing the weekend with the FIA GT3 European Championship, GT4 European Cup, and the British Formula 3 Championship. The Championship race also served to award an annual champion for RAC Tourist Trophy, awarded by the Royal Automobile Club.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2011 FIA GT1 World Championship</span>

The 2011 FIA GT1 World Championship season was the second season of the SRO Group's FIA GT1 World Championship, an auto racing series for grand tourer cars complying with Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA) GT1 regulations. The championship comprised two titles: GT1 World Champion for Drivers and GT1 World Champion for Teams. Five of the six manufacturers represented in the 2010 championship returned for the second season, however Maserati was not represented and 2010 Teams World Champions Vitaphone Racing Team did not defend their title.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2011 FIA GT1 Zolder round</span>

The 2011 FIA GT1 Zolder round is an auto racing event held at the Circuit Zolder in Heusden-Zolder, Belgium. Taking place over 8–10 April 2011, the Zolder event will be the second round of the 2011 FIA GT1 World Championship season. It is the first time the series has visited Zolder, replacing the previous Belgian round at Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps, although the FIA GT Championship previously utilized Zolder in 2009. The race weekend is shared with rounds of the Belcar Endurance Championship and the Belgian Touring Car Series.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2011 FIA GT1 Algarve round</span>

The 2011 FIA GT1 Algarve round is an auto racing event held at the Autódromo Internacional do Algarve in Portimão, Portugal on 6–8 May 2011. The event is the third round of the 2011 FIA GT1 World Championship season. FIA GT1 previously visited the Algarve circuit in autumn 2010, with drivers Peter Dumbreck and Michael Krumm of Sumo Power Nissan winning the Qualifying Race, and Michael Bartels and Andrea Bertolini of Vitaphone Maserati winning the Championship Race. The event is supported by the FIA GT3 European Championship, the Mini Challenge, and local Portuguese racing series.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2011 FIA GT1 Sachsenring round</span>

The 2011 FIA GT1 Sachsenring round is an auto racing event held at the Sachsenring, Saxony, Germany on 13–15 May, and will be the fourth round of the 2011 FIA GT1 World Championship season. It is the FIA GT1 World Championship's first race held at the 3.7 km (2.3 mi) Sachsenring, as the circuit replaces the Nürburgring as the German round for the series. The event will be supported by the German ADAC Masters Weekend, featuring the ADAC GT Masters, ATS Formel 3 Cup, ADAC Formel Masters, and ADAC Procar Series, as well as the German Mini Challenge.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2011 FIA GT1 San Luis round</span>

The 2011 FIA GT1 San Luis round was an auto racing event held at the Potrero de los Funes Circuit, San Luis, Argentina on 4–6 November, and was the final round of the 2011 FIA GT1 World Championship season. It was the FIA GT1 World Championship's second race held in Argentina, a week after the 2010 San Luis round at the 6.270 km (3.896 mi) circuit. This event was supported by the TC 2000 Championship, Fiat Linea Competizione and the Argentine Formula Renault Championship.

The 2012 FIA GT1 World Championship was the third and final season of the SRO Group's FIA GT1 World Championship, an auto racing series for grand tourer cars. The 2012 championship, which opened to GT3 Series Grand Touring cars, featured two titles awarded to the highest scoring competitors over the course of the season: the GT1 World Championship for Drivers and the GT1 World Championship for Teams. The series underwent regulation changes in 2012 with GT3 cars replacing the GT1 category vehicles used in the previous two seasons of the World Championship. Hexis AMR, now under the title Hexis Racing, returned as the defending Teams' World Champions, while German drivers Michael Krumm and Lucas Luhr didn't return to the series to defend their Drivers' World Championships.

The 2013 Autobacs Super GT Series was the twenty-first season of the Japan Automobile Federation Super GT Championship including the All Japan Grand Touring Car Championship (JGTC) era, and the ninth season under the name Super GT. It marked the thirty-first season overall of a Japanese professional sportscar championship dating back to the All Japan Sports Prototype Championship. It was the final year of the GT500 regulations introduced in 2010 as the 2014 season would see unified technical regulations with the Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters. The season began on April 7 and ended on November 17, 2013 after 8 regular races and 1 non championship event.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lucas Luhr</span> German racing driver (born 1979)

Lucas Luhr is a German racing driver. He is a staple of the American Le Mans Series during the 2000s and early 2010s, winning the GT class with Porsche in 2002, the LMP2 category in 2006, and taking the overall LMP1 championship as part of the Audi Sport North America works outfit in 2008. He also won the P1 title in 2012 and 2013, driving for Honda-fielding Muscle Milk Pickett Racing.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nismo Global Driver Exchange</span> Initiative from Nissan and Nismo

The Nismo Global Driver Exchange was an initiative from Nissan and Nismo to share driving experience from various motor racing categories around the world.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nissan GT-R LM Nismo</span> Sports prototype racing car

The Nissan GT-R LM Nismo is a sports prototype racing car built by the Nissan Motor Company and their motorsports division Nismo. Designed for the Le Mans Prototype 1 (LMP1) regulations of the FIA World Endurance Championship and the 24 Hours of Le Mans, the GT-R LM was unique amongst Le Mans Prototypes at the time for utilizing a front mid-engine layout for its internal combustion engine, as opposed to the rear mid-engine layout used by nearly all other competitors in the category. It was Nissan's first prototype chassis since the R391 in 1999, although the company had developed engines in recent years. The car was branded after the Nissan GT-R road car and shares similar engine and drivetrain configurations, but is not related to the sports car. The GT-R LM Nismo program was announced on 23 May 2014, while the car was publicly shown for the first time in a Nissan commercial during Super Bowl XLIX on 1 February 2015. It was retired from competition at the end of 2015, after having only competed unsuccessfully at the 2015 24 Hours of Le Mans.

Kazuki Hoshino is a semi-retired Japanese professional racing driver and current team principal of Team Impul in the Super GT Series and Super Formula Championship. He is the son of former racing driver and Impul co-founder, Kazuyoshi Hoshino.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nissan GT-R in motorsport</span> Japanese car adapted for racing

The Nissan GT-R upheld its predecessor's exceptional pedigree in motorsports, competing across a range of racing disciplines and attaining success. Notable motorsport achievements came through from its participation in sports car racing, including championship triumphs in the approvingly competitive FIA GT1 World Championship, GT World Challenge and in the Super GT series. As well as in endurance races, consistently vying at the top in the Bathurst 12 Hour, Nürburgring 24 Hours, Spa 24 Hours among others. The car was used as official safety cars in numerous motorsport events, such as in the Super GT series, FIA GT1 World Championship, British Superbike Championship, and in the Supercars Championship as well.

References

  1. "Sumo names second driver pairing". FIA GT1 World Championship . SRO Group. 23 March 2010. Retrieved 7 April 2010.