Batmobile Nissan returns to the track

Lucas the playboy racer will take to the wheel of the mad Batmobile in the Petite Le Mans endurance race next month.

The virtual-to-reality star - who famously became the first fully-professional racing driver after winning the Playstation 3 Nissan GT Academy competition - will take the helm of the Nissan DeltaWing in the American Le Mans Series (ALMS) finale at Road Atlanta, USA, October 17-20 - affectionately referred to as the Petite Le Mans. The Spaniard will partner ALMS star Gunnar Jeannette.

Petrolheads will no doubt remember the DeltaWing's appearance at this year's Le Mans. The Batmobile-like racer stole the limelight from the fleet of dominant Audis despite being 'Nakajima-ed' six hours into the race.

A coming together with a Toyota Hybrid piloted by Kazuki Nakajima ended the DeltaWing's race (see video below), but spectators made clear which car was their favourite.

The DeltaWing was designed and built with the aim of completing the famous French endurance race using half the fuel of contemporary prototype racers.

Darren Cox, general manager, Nissan in Europe, said: "Le Mans was a huge success for us - the car did everything we wanted it to do and more, proving that the pioneering technology we were testing in the world's most public laboratory works and is a viable option for the future sustainability of motorsport.

"The only thing that didn't go our way was the way the race ended for us, which was entirely out of our control. Because we'd proven the technology worked, it was hard to be too disappointed, but we were blown away by the level of support and goodwill that came our way from the fans so now we feel we owe it to them to race again."

We'll be hoping the Batmobile Nissan won't be "clanged", "powed", "bammed" and "kapowed" when it returns to racing next month.

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