ALEX AND LUCAS: TWO JOURNEYS, ONE DESTINATION
Alex Brundle and Lucas Ordoñez may be from different backgrounds but the two young drivers are about to share a fast car and one ambition. Brundle and Ordoñez will race a Nissan-powered Zytek in the Le Mans 24-Hours, Brundle's father, Martin, adding crucial experience to the driving trio in the endurance classic on 16/17 June.
Alex and Lucas, having arrived via diverse routes through the motor ranks, are the first to recognise and grasp such a golden opportunity to take part in this unique event. For Brundle (21), it is a major step forward in a burgeoning career; for 27-year-old Ordoñez, sliding into the cockpit of a 220 mph Le Mans car represents the next phase of an extraordinary journey that began in Spain as he sat at home, exercising his skill on his PlayStation.
"It started four years ago when I was a student," says Ordoñez. "My dad and my brothers were racing and my dream was to go one better and be a professional racing driver. But I didn't know how. The answer came when I saw a Nissan/PlayStation competition."
Ordoñez became the world's first virtual to real life racing driver when he won the Nissan PlayStation® GT Academy 2008, a competition designed turn a champion Gran Turismo gamer into a real life racing driver. Run over nine months, GT Academy is an international driving competition uniting videogames and motorsport through serious competition on the race track. Ordoñez was fast-tracking in every sense to front-line motor sport
"Three years after winning GT Academy, I competed in the 2011 Le Mans 24 Hours, finishing second in class," says Ordoñez. "My life completely changed. It's been a dream for me. I feel like the luckiest man in the world.
"I'm really proud to have this chance to win in the LMP2 class this year with an ex-F1 driver and his son, Alex. It's really special for me. I'm learning a lot through working with Martin; it's a fantastic experience."
Alex has taken a more traditional route, similar to that followed by his father when he worked through the junior ranks of motor sport. Having taken part in 156 Grands Prix and won Le Mans, Brundle Senior is ideally placed to gauge the progress and potential of his son.
"The chances of getting your lad into F1 these days are pretty remote if you don't have the wherewithal," says Martin. "Alex is showing a lot of talent but you've got to be realistic. I see Alex as making a tremendous sports car driver and I can see him making something out of this as opposed to the slim chance of having a single-seater career."
Alex jumped at the chance when Martin began discussion with Nissan and the idea of a Le Mans entry, run by Greaves Motorsport, was born.
"The suggestion was that if Dad was going to do Le Mans, then I would be offered the opportunity to drive with him in this Nissan supported programme," says Alex. "Obviously, this is fantastic for me as a young racing driver. In terms of the programme so far, everyone at Nissan has been really professional and helpful. It is very easy to say that and not mean it, but I really do mean it. It's a huge opportunity."
Alex and Lucas are the first to realise that they will be expected to step up to the plate in what will be an intensely close battle in LMP2.
"Everyone knows that Le Mans will be very competitive in the main class, LMP1," says Lucas. "But, I tell you, LMP2 is going to be...mad! There are 20 really competitive cars and 12 of those will have Nissan engines, so it's going to be a fantastically close battle. Zytek have done a really good job with the chassis and Greaves Motorsport won this class at Le Mans last year. So everything together, with the three of us driving, will make a really good package."
Ordoñez knows from his experience last year that Le Mans and its traditions amount to more than simply driving the racing car.
"This is where having Martin on the team is really important," says Lucas. "During Le Mans week Martin will help us deal with pressure; remain calm during the week and help us sort all the media and sponsor events we will have to attend. You can't really be focused on the race until Friday night and then, again, Martin can help us to do a good job with strategy and be completely focussed on the race."
For Alex, the experience and family relationship has moved into the realm of a father and son going to work together.
"There are times when he's massively supportive and there are times when he knows I'm maybe doing something that's not quite right," says Alex. "He sometimes finds that difficult, as all fathers do, to express it in a way that is potentially as kind as you could be. But that's just a fatherly reaction. Overall, this has strengthened our relationship. We're always knocking around ideas about how to improve the things we're doing together. It has given us a joint purpose and a joint focus.
"There are so many things to consider: the distance of the race; understanding the car and what it's doing; minding the traffic, the changing weather and the changing circuit and never, in any of those conditions, making even the smallest mistake. That's the level we're racing at. Both Lucas and I are very aware of that. It's a fantastic challenge - for the three of us."
