Nissan has released the first photo of its all-new race car that will compete this year in the premier LMP1 category of the World Endurance Championship, which also means racing alongside the likes of Audi, Porsche and Toyota at the prestigious 24 Hours of Le Mans. Nissan first confirmed its intention to compete in WEC a year ago, and soon the covers will come off the automaker’s first top-level endurance racer since 1999’s R391.

The new race car is called the GT-R LM NISMO, and it is expected to feature a radical—for a Le Mans prototype—front-midship layout, just like the GT-R road car whose next-generation model, the R36, is being closely developed with the new race car.

Nissan's WEC team has a base in the U.S. and has taken advantage of track facilities in the warmer southern states’ climate to test the new GTR LM NISMO during the winter off-season. Disguised versions of the car have been spotted at Austin’s Circuit of the Americas on several occasions.

When might we see the new GT-R LM NISMO? Well, the reveal might happen during this weekend’s Super Bowl XLIX. Nissan has confirmed it will run a 90-second spot called With Dad during this year’s Big Game, and a teaser shown below features a definite racing theme.

The spot will tell the story about a family's struggles with work-life balance, with the dad in this case being a racing driver. Nissan has also confirmed that there will be “two surprise products” appearing in the spot, one of which may just be the new GT-R LM NISMO.

Super Bowl XLIX gets underway this Sunday with the New England Patriots facing off against the Seattle Seahawks at University of Phoenix Stadium in Glendale, Arizona. You can see some of the other spots set to air during the game at this link.

_______________________________________

Follow Motor Authority on Facebook, Twitter, and Google+.