Video: DeltaWing takes its first laps around Sebring

Fans attending tomorrow's opening round of the World Endurance Championship and the American Le Mans Series will get a sneak peak at the Nissan DeltaWing – the unique experimental car that will make its race debut at this year's 24 Hours of Le Mans.

The car will complete two demonstration laps tomorrow morning at Sebring International Raceway – a mere 90 minutes before the start of the 60th Annual Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring.

After the Nissan DeltaWing partnership was launched in London on Tuesday, March 12, the 1.6 liter turbo-powered race car was made its North American debut yesterday at Sebring before an enormous international media contingent.

Nissan DeltaWing driver Marino Franchitti completed the car's first two public laps around the 3.740-mile historic Sebring circuit.

Franchitti and the DeltaWing return to the track at 8:55am tomorrow. The Twelve Hours of Sebring combatants will get the green flag at 10:30am (local time) tomorrow.

BEN BOWLBY – NISSAN DELTAWING DESIGNER
"As a designer, to have your baby shown to the world for the first time is a bit like wearing your heart on your sleeve. You never quite know what people are going to think, but in this case the reception has been incredible.
"For the hard work and commitment from the partners, it was fantastic to see the DeltaWing run in public for the first time.

"I am surprised at the global reaction so far because it has been incredibly massive. I suppose I am relieved because that is why we stuck our necks out. We believed it was important to do something new and innovative in the first place.

"It is great that the reaction has been so amazing, and we are now just really looking forward to getting stuck into our testing program."

DARREN COX – NISSAN OF EUROPE
"We did a fan forum today and it was brilliant. I love racing in the US because it is a completely different atmosphere. The fans have shown a huge amount of interest in this car.
"We had lots and lots of people standing in the hot sun and nobody left – they just soaked up all the information we could give them.

"The reaction from the fans has been brilliant. When I said we were running the car tomorrow morning just before the race, all the fans gave us a round of applause."