A new Spanish language documentary (be sure to turn on the subtitles in the YouTube player) has been released by Madrid-based sports media outlet Relevo, covering the early life and career of the first GT Academy champion Lucas Ordonez.
While GT Academy produced a number of successful racing drivers over the years, they all focused on a single discipline: circuit racing. One thing it never produced was a rally champion, but that might be about to change.
January might not seem like a month for motorsport milestones, but January 14 does mark a very significant occasions. It was on this day in 2012 that a team of drivers made up entirely of racing gamers took a podium finish at a major 24-hour race.
You can’t keep a fast driver out of a race car for long. Original GT Academy champion Lucas Ordonez’ name will be back on a car this summer, joining the crew from Crewe in the Bentley Continental GT3.
Lucas Ordóñez is set to return and race in the Blancpain GT Series, following an announcement on the official GT website. The Spaniard will drive for Team RJN Nissan, getting the chance to reprise his driver’s position to pilot the GT-R NISMO GT3 against harsh competition from the world’s leading supercar manufacturers.
Ah the festive period — is there a better time to be merry for days on end? We sincerely doubt it. With parties left, right and center, one may expect that big organizations also get in on the fun. It seems Polyphony Digital is no exception, based on tweets by original GT Academy winner Lucas Ordóñez and Super GT driver Satoshi Motoyama. Both racers attended the annual party, held at the Japan offices of the Gran Turismo creators.
Over the course of the past few months, the qualifying rounds of GT Academy 2016 have quietly taken place across the globe, as thousands of potential competitors took their best shots using a pre-release version of GT Sport. Six regions were earmarked for International Race Camp (Australia, Indonesia, Mexico, North Africa, Philippines, and Thailand), and after all the dust had settled, six finalists were selected from each to represent their team in Silverstone.
We’re sure many of us have some annoyances about certain things — commonly referred to as pet peeves — that puts us in great discomfort every time we think about it. Everyone’s got something that makes them tick, so it shouldn’t be unusual to hear even racing drivers have a few of their own, as they often find themselves in rough and seemingly merciless conditions. NISMO TV has a sampling of the personal bugbears its racing drivers grapple with, including GT Academy grads.
Nissan GT Academy Team RJN has successfully scored a podium placement at the final race of the 2016 Blancpain GT Series Endurance Cup, held at Nurburgring GP circuit last weekend. This is the first podium position for the team in the series, brought by athletes Lucas Ordonez, Alex Buncombe and Mitsunori Takaboshi in the Pro Cup class.
Former GT Academy graduate Lucas Ordoñez is auctioning one of his racing suits for a great cause. Lucia Gil Alvaro is an 11-year-old girl who suffers from the rare disease ‘Leber congenital amaurosis’, which causes the person affected to become blind. However, this illness can be treated but must be done so in the USA. For the past 8 years, Lucia has been treated in Philadelphia as explained below in the video introducing the auction:
The 2016 Spa 24 Hours endurance event recently finished with the #99 BMW M6 GT3 from ROWE Racing team claiming the victory after 531 laps. Variable weather conditions and several unforeseen pace interruptions caused enough anxiety to make the race entirely unpredictable.
Join us live tomorrow (Sunday 8th May) on YouTube from 16:30 EDT / 21:30 BST / 22:30 CEST as GTPlanet’s top drivers race with Lucas (2008 Nissan GT Academy Champion) on GT6, and help him prepare for next weekend’s round of the Blancpain GT Series Endurance Cup at Silverstone!
Last week we reported that Polyphony Digital’s CEO Kazunori Yamauchi would be returning to the Nürburgring in the lead up to the 2016 ADAC 24 Hours of Nürburgring. Sharing the driving duties of the #101 BMW M6 GT3 with Matias Henkola, George Richardson, and Max Sandritter, Yamauchi was set to participate in the top SP9 class under the Walkenhorst Motorsport banner.
Kazunori Yamauchi will be returning to the gruelling Green Hell this year. Polyphony’s man in charge took 2015 off, after an accident during the qualifying session the year before. In a surprising turn, however, Yamauchi will be slotting in behind the wheel of a Bavarian motor for the ADAC qualifier this weekend.