LUCAS ORDONEZ BIOGRAPHY
LUCAS ORDONEZ
Date of birth: | 1 May 1985 |
Place of birth: | Madrid, Spain |
Nationality: | Spanish |
Lives: | Madrid, Spain |
Languages: | Spanish, English and French |
Twitter: | @lucas_ordonez |
In 2008 Lucas Ordonez was studying for an MBA when he saw an advertisement for a new competition called ‘GT Academy'. Lucas had long held dreams of being a racing driver and saw this collaboration between Nissan and PlayStation as his last opportunity.
The rest, as they say, is history. His journey from virtual to reality became one of the major stories of the 2011 Le Mans 24 Hours, where Lucas fulfilled his dream of competing in the toughest endurance race of them all. The fact that he finished the race on the podium with his Signatech Nissan team-mates is testament to the strength of the GT Academy driver development programme.
As the inaugural winner of GT Academy Lucas has become the statesman that the new winners look up to. Since his 2008 win, GT Academy has gone global with competitions in Europe, USA, Russia, the Middle East Australia, India and South Africa, finding and nurturing new talent every season but Lucas will always be the pioneer.
In recent years Lucas has truly came of age as a professional racing driver, rising to every challenge that comes his way.
Lucas epitomises what GT Academy is all about. Take raw talent, nurture it, challenge it and watch it shine.
CAREER HIGHLIGHTS
2014
- Racing in Japanese Super GT where he partnered Kazuki Hoshino in the NDDP Racing Nissan GT-R NISMO GT3 in the GT300 class. He took his first Super GT victory at Buriram in Thailand.
- First driver signed up to race the Nissan ZEOD RC at the Le Mans 24 Hours.
- Won the SP2 class at the Dubai 24 Hours in an ‘All-Gamer' Nissan 370Z NISMO, which he shared with Miguel Faisca, Stanislav Aksenov, Florian Strauss and Nick McMillen.
2013
- Blancpain Endurance Series Pro-Am Driver's Champion! Lucas also competed in the FIA GT Series in the Nissan GT-R Nismo GT3.
- First driver to take advantage of the NISMO Global Driver Exchange, competing in Super GT in Japan, testing the Nissan Altima V8 Supercar in Australia and racing a Nissan 370Z in the USA.
- Racing at the Le Mans 24 Hours in the Greaves Motorsport Zytek-Nissan with Michael Krumm and Jann Mardenborough. Took his second podium finish at Le Mans with third place in LM P2.
- Took second place in the SP3 class at the Dubai 24 Hours, sharing a Nissan 370Z NISMO GT4 with Roman Rusinov, Mark Shulzhitskiy and Wolfgang Reip.
2012
- Dubai 24 Hours in the ‘All Gamer' Nissan 370Z. Team mates: Jordan Tresson, Jann Mardenborough and Bryan Heitkotter. Finished third in class taking first ever podium for all-gamer entry.
- European Le Mans Series with Greaves Motorsport. Team mates Tom Kimber-Smith and Alex Brundle.
- Nurburgring 24 Hours, racing alongside Gran Turismo creator, Kazunori Yamauchi. Lucas won his class and finished in 30th place overall in a production class Nissan GT-R on the notoriously difficult 25km Nordschleife.
- Le Mans 24 Hours in the Greaves Motorsport Zytek Nissan LM P2. Team mates: Martin Brundle and Alex Brundle. This line-up also competed in the Silverstone round of the FIA World Endurance Championship, finishing fifth.
- Petit Le Mans in the Nissan DeltaWing. After making it's debut at the Le Mans 24 Hours in June, the Nissan DeltaWing returned to the track at Road Atlanta in the Autumn. Lucas and his team-mate Gunnar Jeanette took fifth place, the car's first finish, in the tough 10-hour race.
2011
- Winner of the Intercontinental Le Mans Cup LM P2 with Signatech Nissan, alongside Franck Mailleux and Soheil Ayari. Two class victories and three further podium finishes secured the LM P2 title.
- Le Mans 24 Hours debut. Lucas became the first GT Academy winner to race at Le Mans when he joined Signatech Nissan in the LM P2 class and finished in an incredible second place in class.
- Voted 2011 LMP2 Rookie of the Year by SPEED.com and Dailysportscar.com
2010
- FIA GT4 European Championship with RJN Motorsport. Finished in fourth place.
2009
- FIA GT4 European Championship in 350Z. Runner-Up with Alex Buncombe.Won teams' title.
- Dubai 24 Hours in Nissan 350Z. Team-mate Johnny Herbert.
2008
- Nissan Playstation GT Academy Winner (Season 1, Europe, 2008)
https://newsroom.nissan-europe.com/cz