Ordoñez Helps DeltaWing to 5th Place Finish at Petit Le Mans

In yet another career milestone for GT Academy champion Lucas Ordoñez, he helped drive the radical Highcroft Racing Nissan DeltaWing prototype to an incredible 5th place overall finish at Road Atlanta’s Petit Le Mans.

Running unclassified as an invitational entry for the final round of the American Le Mans Series, the DeltaWing team were forced to start off the back of the grid and subsequently lost additional track position by missing out on a number safety car “wave arounds” throughout the race.

The unique 1.6 liter Nissan DIG-T turbochaged-powered machine eventually crossed the line three laps down from the P2 class winning car.

Jeannette started the race for the Nissan DeltaWing squad and immediately began a charge through the pack – passing eight cars on the opening lap.

By the time he handed over to Ordoñez, the No. 0 car had moved up to eigth position out of the 42 car field. The Spaniard took over and completed a triple stint – handing back to Jeannette from third place overall.

The Michelin tire-equipped Nissan DeltaWing continued to show incredible endurance when Jeannette returned to the wheel – this time completing a quadruple stint without changing tires.

Ordoñez took over for the final 110 laps – bringing the car across the line in sixth place. The team gained a further position after the checkered flag when a P2 car was excluded due to a driver exceeding the maximum drive time permitted.

Today’s performance was made even more remarkably considering the team had to completely rebuild the car on Wednesday after Jeannette was forced into a dramatic roll-over in testing when he was struck by a GTC-class Porsche.

Congratulations to Lucas and the DeltaWing team on a great result!

Photography by Josh Koropchak.

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Comments (47)

  1. Rushton1996

    Well done to the Nissan DeltaWing team and Lucas. But I have noticed recently that there is absolutely no interesting news for the Gran Turismo game. It’s kind of boring. *sigh

  2. Rynogtr23

    It would’ve been appreciated if there was some mention of lap times in this post or future posts.What kind of lap times was the delta wing achieving & how did it compare to the 1st thru 4th place overall winner?

  3. JTSnooks

    No pictures of Lucas wearing a Batman costume during pictures? I’ve got some if you’d like me to post/email them somewhere.

  4. TurboProp

    I see they painted the mirrors and the top fairings bright red so the Porsche’s could see it, still needs the bicycle flag on it to help see it in traffic…

    1. Pit Crew

      ^ This statement makes no sense. Is Forza supposed to be pursuing a deal with NISSAN to implement the Delta Wing in future Forza titles?

    2. Quakebass

      It’s because PD is hardly putting out any content (for good reason, albeit), and T10’s getting a crap ton done. I’m actually thinking at this rate they may get the new NSX in one of their games before PD does, unless PD’s done some sort of exclusive license on it like EA with Porsche.

    3. Pit Crew

      ^ Doubtful T10s business relations with NISSAN are better than PDs to the point Forza would get the DeltaWing before a GT title.

    4. Pit Crew

      True the car is Owned by Chip Ganassi, but NISSAN is part of the inner circle, PD has way better shot then T10.

  5. Veyron Tony

    I just watched the race and I was wanting more coverage. Great performance, maybe we could get a DLC, it is a Nissan after all, can`t get enough of those… lol

    1. TomBrady

      You know this is the one nissan I truly would want besides a premium upgrade of the R390 Road car (amazing car and cool interior). The delta wing is so unique and probably would be heaps of fun to drive, it’s so different. The only race cars I want more at this point is the Lotus 49, and Senna’s 1988 Mp4/4 (or his lotus 98t from 86). BTW I like your name, my most wanted car for GT5 overall right now is the Veyron Supersport, I don’t think it’s gonna happen because PD are douche faces. Veyron should’ve been premium from the start

    2. gamerdog6482

      PD aren’t doushefaces, and Kaz wanted the Bugatti to be premium.
      Jordan had an interview with him about it.

    3. sumbrownkid

      @Harvee.

      Perhaps they were pressed for time? Or they ran into scheduling conflicts? Or budgetary constraints (unlikely).

      Making a game is not as easy as Forza seems to make it bro.

    4. ManiacRS

      @youngun:

      They’re as much a manufacturer as Audi is with their Team Joest prepared and run car, or Toyota with their Lola prepared (I think) chassis…

      Real world motorsport is a big business and it is a lot more complicated most people think…

    5. HarVee

      @sumbrownkid

      PD had 5 years to develop the game. Pressed for time? No. Lack of proper planning and organization, probably.

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