FIRST JAPANESE SUPER GT VICTORY FOR GT ACADEMY WINNER
- Lucas Ordonez takes GT300 win in Thailand
LONDON, UK – Monday 6 October 2014: Winner of the first Nissan PlayStation GT Academy competition, Lucas Ordonez, took his first win in Super GT last weekend at the newly completed Chang International Circuit in Buriram, Thailand. Along with his regular teammate Kazuki Hoshino, Lucas won the GT300 class in the No.3 B-MAX NDDP Nissan GT-R NISMO GT3.
Since winning GT Academy in 2008, Lucas has been the trailblazer, setting the standards for each new generation of winners. He was the first to gain a place on the Le Mans 24 Hours podium and now he is the first to win in Super GT.
Ordonez and Hoshino managed to grab a front row grid position for the 66-lap race at Buriram. They qualified in third place but were boosted up the order when one of the frontrunners was disqualified. Hoshino took the start and managed to hold his position and delivered a good drive, taking the lead when the Porsche in first place pitted early. He pitted himself a few laps later to hand the GT-R over to Lucas.
Lucas set off in pursuit of the Porsche but his job was made easier on lap 48 when the Porsche had to pit again for new rubber, allowing Lucas to sail into the lead. From this moment on the Spaniard didn’t look back and took the chequered flag as the race winner.
“I’m very happy to take my first victory in Super GT,” said Lucas. “We thought the GT-R would suit this circuit. We were very worried about tyre degradation in the extremely hot conditions but we found a great set up for qualifying and for the race and the Yokohama tyres felt consistent until the end.
“Kazuki was fantastic in the opening stint, putting a lot of pressure on the Thai Porsche which was racing with no weight handicap. Our pit stop was good so after that all I had to do was keep Jorg Muller’s BMW behind me which isn’t easy! It feels great to be back on the podium after our run of bad luck. Thanks to everyone on the team for a great result.”
The 2014 Super GT season has just one event remaining, which takes place back in Japan at the Motegi Circuit on 16 November.
ENDS
