Nissan’s nod to 1992 victory

The duo are part of a four-car assault on the mountain by the Japanese manufacturer and are excited to be wearing similar suits to the ones that took Jim Richards and Mark Skaife to victory in 1992.

Caruso had the opportunity to talk to Richards earlier in the month and said he was struck by the affection the six-time Bathurst winner has for Nissan.

“It’s pretty cool to be in these colours given the history Nissan has here at the mountain. When we did a photo shoot with the famous Jim Richards, it was pretty cool,” he said. 

“Talking to him you can see Nissan holds a pretty special place in his heart and hopefully we can achieve half of what he did with Nissan.”

It’s not just the pattern on their suits that will be retro, either. The design of the suit and their shoes are also very similar to those worn by Richards.

“Even the cuffs. Nowadays everyone has the ones that roll over the shoes, but back then they didn’t, and we try to keep it as authentic as we can,” Caruso said.

While Skaife and Richards were able to stand on the top step of the podium in 1991 and 1992, it will be a much tougher ask for the Nissans to repeat that feat because of some of the setbacks they have faced in their first season back in the sport.

The biggest problem is the lack of speed they have along the straights and Caruso said he doesn’t think the Altimas have enough speed across the top of the mountain to make up for it.

“I think it’s a bit farfetched that we will be able to go a lot faster than everyone else across the top. For what we lose down the straight, it’s going to be hard to get back,” he said. 

“Over one lap we might be able to get close to a time but when it comes to racing and you have someone behind you, it won’t matter how quick you are across the top if there is someone behind you on the straight.”

“I think this weekend, it’s first time back at the Mountain in brand new cars, so we need to come away with a solid job. We’ll be doing our best to achieve the ultimate.”

Caruso said the work Nissan have done in their first year back in the sport should ensure they are able to keep reliability problems to a minimum, but he believes the hot weather that is being predicted could be a factor.

“I guess everyone was thinking about that [reliability] when the cars first hit the track, but we saw that no cars really had problems at Sandown. You don’t want to go into the biggest race of the year thinking your car isn’t going to finish the race,” he said.

“The team has been working hard to ensure they are the best prepared for this race they can possibly be.

“We’ve seen it before, this race throws everything at you and this year it looks like it’s going to throw the heat at us. We will have to see how that plays out.”

A third in 2009 with Lee Holdsworth is Caruso’s best result at Bathurst, but despite having his fair share of heartbreak, he said Mount Panorama is a special track.

“It’s the one track you roll in two or three days before you’re even on the circuit, so everyone loves coming here. It’s picturesque on the top of the mountain,” he said.

“We will be heading up there later for a track walk and, to be honest, it’s the only track I’m happy to do a track walk. Everywhere else I couldn’t be bothered, I’ve done them before.

“I guess the big thing is, the town really get behind the event, which is very important. There’s so much history here, but to come back year after year and everyone loving it, we really enjoy that support.”