But the event, unique in Australia, has the fans and prospective buyers right in the thick of the action while sitting on a bus.
The program, which borrows some elements from a Nissan event held in Japan over the past decade, called the Nissan Circuit Safari, gives a select audience almost all the sensory thrills of motorsport from the low-speed bus.
Nissan Australia’s senior manager of sponsorship and retail, Mitchell Wiley, said the feedback from the first safari held on the weekend of the Sandown 500 was “amazing”.
“The Safari gets 20,000 to 30,000 Nismo fans in Japan who pay to attend the pilgrimage,” he said.
“We have been trying since 2015 to get a similar event happening here and we looked at it again about 18 months ago and it came through thanks to the support from CAMS (Confederation of Australian Motorsport) and Supercars who ensured its safety.
“We had two sessions on the Friday – including running the four Altima Supercars – and two on Saturday.
“To be honest, we didn’t know how engaging the exercise would be for those attending. But the feedback we received from monitoring the event, and through social media, was incredible.”
The concept of putting a bus amongst fast racecars was reinforced by the appearance of Jim Richards driving an HR31 which he drove in 1990 and winning for Nissan its first Australian Touring Car Championship.
There were four other cars on the track, including the Nissan R88C that raced at the 1988 24 Hours of Le Mans.
Mr Wiley described the event as “once in a lifetime” for fans.
“Would we do this again? Absolutely. The feedback was so good,” he said.
“It was organised so when people were on the bus, there was hardly any downtime – the cars kept coming and that was followed up with expert commentary on the history of the cars and drivers.
“It will stay at Sandown because the circuit is fairly flat and has plenty of room to see the track and the vehicles. That also suits from a safety perspective.
“But we could look at other circuits in the future.”
Mr Wiley said from a marketing standpoint, one of Nissan Australia’s key foundations for its motorsport activation was to provide ‘unexpected access’ to Nissan owners and fans.
“We have done this using our ‘best seats in the house’ activation that allows anyone who is a Nissan owner or who is wearing merchandise, to an exclusive viewing platform,” he said.
“We brought some 370Z Nismo prospects into the program. These were people who raised their hands and showed interest in the 370Z Nismo.
“We provided them with ticketing, looked after them with food and beverage, and then we provided access to the Circuit Safari.”
Mr Wiley said Nissan Australia looked at its marketing exercises as part of a bigger picture.
“We don’t look at the event in isolation. The annual program for how we activate motorsport has its metrics already in place,” he said.
“So that determines our success in our marketing.
“It comes back to ‘unexpected fan access’ and we know what it delivers for us.The key is to provide something different each year and Circuit Safari certainly has done that.”
Mr Wiley said Nissan Australia would also have access to the Nissan museum in Japan.
“One of the key things that I’d certainly like to see is a greater collection of heritage cars being involved in the Safari,” he said.
“Our colleagues in Japan are very supportive and it will come down to timelines and planning.”
By Neil Dowling
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