MOTORSPORT: John Crennan departing Nissan Motorsport

When the Bathurst 1000 – the crown jewel of the V8 Supercar Championship – rolls around in less than six weeks two of the three key players in bringing Nissan back into Australian touring car racing barely 30 months ago will be gone from the scene.

Nissan executive Jeff Fisher departed the manufacturer early this year and now it has been announced that John Crennan, the long-time head of Holden Special Vehicles and Holden Racing Team who for the past four years has overseen the Kelly brothers' outfit that became Nissan Motorsport, will retire from the team late this month.

That will be after the first of the endurance events, the Sandown 500 on September 14, but before Bathurst on October 12.

Crennan's departure will leave only Ian Moreillon, the Nissan executive who watched V8 Supercar racing on TV while stationed in Japan and decided the company needed to be in it, still involved from the "founding" trio.

Moreillon these days is the head of Nissan's Australian dealer development and relations – more formally called executive general manager, franchise development.

While Nissan dominated the Australian Touring Championship in the early 1990s with its four-wheel-drive, turbocharged "Godzilla" GT-R – to such an extent it was outlawed as what became the V8 Supercar era was ushered in – its comeback with the Altima in the 'Car of the Future' era has not translated into great racing success or sales for the model.

Although the four-car Nissan squad has shown significant improvement on the track recently, with the help of NISMO in Japan, it is still not a regular podium finisher.

The brand's sole victory was at Victoria's Winton circuit last year – indeed it was a one-two for drivers James Moffat and Michael Caruso – in the only race in which it was allowed to use E70 fuel rather than the usual E85.

All the other four makes in the series – the traditional Holden and Ford as well as the AMG Mercedes of Betty Klimenko's Erebus Motorsport, which like Nissan entered the fray last year, and this year's newcomer Volvo – have won this season.

New Nissan Australian chief executive Richard Emery has turned up the heat in the quest for better racing performances and leveraging by the manufacturer of its race program.

Emery has brought in Mitchell Wiley, who he worked with at Mitsubishi, as Nissan's motorsport activation manager.

Crennan's intention to exit the race team is believed to have been known within Nissan most of the year – an insider described it as "very organised, well-planned and professional" – and opens the way for a broader role for Todd Kelly, who is thought to be contemplating retirement from race driving.

While any new role for Kelly may not replicate Crennan's, among the challenges for him and his executives at Nissan Motorsport will be retention – or replacement – of major sponsors Jack Daniel's and Norton and out-of-contract Caruso, the highest-placed of the Nissan drivers in the championship (12th).

Crennan has mentored Kelly and his younger brother Rick since they came on the V8 Supercar scene in Holdens. They are both Bathurst 1000 winners and Rick was the 2006 series champion.

Crennan said the brothers were "now into their sixth year of owning and operating their team and are outstanding businessmen with great support from their top leadership group of Nick Ryan, Scott Sinclair and Craig Spencer".

"This, together with the way Richard Emery has fully re-energised the Nissan Motorsport program has me convinced the team and the Nissan Altimas are not far away from being the major force in V8 Supercars," Crennan said.

"I am keen to step back from the rigours of daily management responsibilities and am now looking forward to working independently on some new automotive projects and advisory work."