Lucas Ordoñez: Great driver, fortunate guy, loved by Nissan, or all of them?

  • Thread starter Thread starter NixxxoN
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Getting second in LMP2 at Le Mans is no small feat either so he has skill. That and help win the Pro-AM cup in the 2013 Blancpain Endurance season.
 
I am actually extremely jelly of all the drivers who won GT Academy. I kinda hope to be one of them someday, maybe not this year, but someday...
 
Azure Flare
I am actually extremely jelly of all the drivers who won GT Academy. I kinda hope to be one of them someday, maybe not this year, but someday...
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I know what you mean. It is like someone being called up to play for England or signed by Liverpool FC on the strength of the fact he is good at FIFA14.

Doesn't it devalue the more traditional route most other drivers have taken fast-tracking a driver? Some work for years, lifting themselves up the ranks from karting then through the various junior single-seater's like F4, F3 (sorry Bernie...F2), BARC Formula Renault to series like GP3 and W.S.R and they never get to drive at Le Mans.
 
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Diehardracer
I know what you mean. It is like someone being called up to play for England or signed by Liverpool FC on the strength of the fact he is good at FIFA14.

Doesn't it devalue the more traditional route most other drivers have taken fast-tracking a driver? Some work for years, lifting themselves up the ranks from karting then through the various junior single-seater's like F4, F3 (sorry Bernie...F2), BARC Formula Renault to series like GP3 and W.S.R and they never get to drive at Le Mans.
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Maybe, but you could equally say that it gives an opportunity to talented youngsters who've never had the chance to race for real and be spotted. It's a genuine part of KY's Gran Turismo concept.
 
Quite a lot (maybe not most, but certainly quite a few) are fast tracked by their ability to throw money or sponsorship at race teams. GT Academy isn't too terribly far removed from any other manufacturers' young driver programs, except they (meaning Nissan) probably don't pay for it nearly as much because Sony does instead.
 
Diehardracer
Doesn't it devalue the more traditional route most other drivers have taken fast-tracking a driver? Some work for years, lifting themselves up the ranks from karting then through the various junior single-seater's like F4, F3 (sorry Bernie...F2), BARC Formula Renault to series like GP3 and W.S.R and they never get to drive at Le Mans.
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I suppose maybe, but that route isn't open to everybody either, because it's bloody expensive. If GTA is working, and it gets people who are seriously qualified to be there on track (like Mardenborough) I say best of luck to them. Maybe there should be more of these types of things and less "traditional" grinding your way through the ranks.

I think there's space for traditional hard work as well as these types of programs that are at least ostensibly trying to find extremely gifted drivers. Some people would never be good enough to make it without the years of practise in lower series, and some people would never be able to finance that sort of career.

I see it like scholarships for gifted students. Yeah, normal people have a process that they have to work through, but if you're really that good then you get funded and skip ahead in the school system to a point where you're actually learning something. No point making geniuses slog through 12-13 years of primary and secondary education just because everyone else has to.

I know that at the end of the day it's basically just a big advertising campaign and that finding good drivers is a nice bonus, but if it's working then best of luck to them, IMO. If Lucas and Jann can hold their own with the big boys, then they deserve everything they're getting. I'm sure there are drivers in lower series that would be as deserving, but I'm sure there's people who missed out on getting to the GTA final that would be too. Life's a lottery, sometimes. :)
 

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