YOKOHAMA, Japan – Tommaso Volpe, currently director of global motorsports and performance projects at INFINITI Motor Company Ltd., has been appointed Nissan global motorsports director effective April 1.
Volpe will oversee Nissan’s Formula E, Super GT, Prototype and global GT3 racing activities. He succeeds Michael Carcamo, who has led Nissan’s motorsports program since 2015, including its Formula E debut in 2018.
Volpe brings a wealth of motorsports experience to the Nissan brand, having led the INFINITI Motorsports department since 2014. In this period, Volpe strengthened the role of INFINITI in Formula One, changing it from a sponsor to a technical partner for the Renault F1 Team, including co-development of the Energy Recovery System, the INFINITI Engineering Academy and the Project Black S.
In addition to his Nissan responsibilities, Volpe will also retain responsibility for INFINITI’s global motorsports programs, including PR and marketing activation in connection with the technical partnership.
“The Formula E team has had many great achievements thanks to the hard work of Michael Carcamo and the team,” Volpe said. “Nissan and NISMO will continue to compete this year with Formula E and the new Nissan GT-R NISMO GT500 as the two main pillars of our works and customer racing programs. And of course, INFINITI will again pursue its global activation program.”
“Michael has been instrumental in developing the Formula E program for Nissan, and we thank him for his drive and dedication, as well as helping promote Nissan’s leadership in electric vehicles,” said Pierre Loing, Nissan’s division general manager of global product marketing and motorsports. “Tommaso brings a wealth of motorsports and marketing experience to this role.”
During his tenure as head of motorsports, Carcamo strengthened Nissan’s partnership with e.dams by leading Nissan’s purchase of a stake in the championship-winning racing organization. He also brought on Shell as a key partner and sponsor of the Formula E program.
“I’m proud to have brought Nissan’s electric mobility vision to life by working with the Nissan e.dams racing team to achieve six pole positions, six podiums, best qualifying team and rookie of the year,” Carcamo said. “We also took Nissan’s first Formula E win at the NYC E-Prix, and Sebastien Buemi took second place in the overall championship. The journey from concept to racing has been four years of solid effort and reward. I want to thank everyone on the team.”
Carcamo will be moving to Japan, where he will be promoted to program director, leading the future development of Nissan’s sports cars, applying information gained through motorsports and Formula E programs to those vehicles.