Nissan was busy in Portimão for four days last week, testing the newly updated GT-R Nismo GT3 for the 2013 season. Although Nissan and JR Motorsport had not finished equipping the test vehicle with all the latest engine updates for the 2013 season, nevertheless, JRM test driver Peter Dumbreck consistently posted faster lap times with the new model than with the 2012 spec sister car that JRM had brought to Portugal for comparison purposes.

The Nissan GT-R Nismo GT3, as tested not only by Dumbreck but also by various customer teams and a total of ten interested drivers from Europe and the Middle East, was already running the revised aerodynamics and new suspension setup for next year's GT-R.

Nigel Stepney, Technical Director at JRM: "During the four days of testing, we took advantage of the dry conditions to evaluate a number of different setups for aerodynamics and chassis and so further improve the Nissan ahead of homologation for the 2013 season. According to the drivers, this revised version of the GT-R is now better at turning in, and its repositioned rear wing is much more efficient, producing more downforce without increasing wind resistance."

During the run-up to the next scheduled test in January, Nissan Motorsport (NISMO) and JRM will be hard at work on the previously announced engine updates and also propose reducing weight by 20kg. Ex-Formula 1 engineer Stepney said: "To give you a concrete example, we are going to swap the standard production headlights for lighter ones made of carbon fibre. Shedding some weight will also help us improve the Nissan's balance ahead of final homologation."

JRM has scheduled another series of tests with the final 2013 version of the GT-R Nismo GT3 for January. The Nissan GT3 will, of course, be eligible to contest the ADAC GT Masters; Schulze Motorsport ran a Nissan GT-R Nismo GT3 for Tobias and Michael Schulze during the 2012 season.

Interested teams and drivers will have another chance to sample the Japanese supercar during testing next January.