Nissan wins were few and far between during its second era of factory support from 2013-2018, but the one in Darwin scored by Michael Caruso.
The Japanese manufacturer endured a tough re-introduction into Supercars with the Altima arriving alongside Erebus Motorsport’s high-profile Mercedes program back in 2013.
After winning during its debut season at Winton using an E70 fuel blend being trailed by Supercars and giving the Altima better economy.
In this case Caruso finished second and teammate James Moffat was the winner, but Darwin was another story.
The Nissans were on the pace starting in practice as Rick Kelly led the way, before Holden’s Shane van Gisbergen took pole by 0.067s.
Caruso made a great start and jumped van Gisbergen to lead into Darwin’s opening corner, but positions switched after contact was made by the New Zealander entering the front straight.
However, van Gisbergen was penalised for passing Caruso before the control line during a restart with a drive-through.
All this allowed Will Davison in the Tekno Autosports Holden VF Commodore to take the lead, but an undercut by enacted by the Nissan Motorsport crew elevated Caruso back to the lead, which he held until the end.
Caruso won by 1.8s from. Red Bull Racing’s Jamie Whincup and Chaz Mostert for Ford Performance Racing.
Another win failed to come Caruso’s way for the rest of his Nissan career as Rick Kelly took the last victory for the manufacturer at Winton in 2018, the same season it pulled its support.