Some say that playing video games is a waste of time, and one is better off doing something more productive. In some cases, such saying may be spot on, but not for these guys as they managed to turn their skills on the virtual world into something that even us would envy as two gamers turned racers will have the chance to pilot an actual LMP1 race car in the 2015 World Endurance Championship. And yes, that also means racing in the prestigious 24 Hours of Le Mans.
Such opportunities are brought to reality through the GT Academy program ran by Nissan. And the lucky duo that will be piloting Nissan’s new GT-R LM Nismo is 2008 GT Academy winner Lucas Ordonez and 2011 winner Jann Mardenborough.
After clinching the title back in 2008, Ordonez competed in the world of GT4 where he raced in a 350Z and then the 370Z. He then got the chance to race in an LMP2 for the first time and raced in the Silverstone 1000km. Displaying exceptional performance, he earned himself a seat in the Signatech Nissan LMP2 car for the 2011 24 Hours of Le Mans and brought home a second in class win.
Spending his time watching Lewis Hamilton in Formula 1 and playing Gran Turismo, Mardenborough had just finished high school and in search of a career. Obviously he did not have to look far as upon winning the GT Academy back in 2011, he has been winning GP3 races and even competed in the LMP2 category in Le Mans.
A total of three LMP1 GT-R LM Nismos will be fielded by Nissan in the upcoming WEC season, and each of them will be driven by three drivers. Aside from Ordonez and Mardenborough, factory drivers Michael Krumm, Marc Gene, Olivier Pla, Harry Tincknell and Tsugio Matsuda have been confirmed by Nissan in joining their WEC program. The remaining drivers will be announced at a later date.
