Gamer-turned-driver to test V8 Supercar

It's not the usual selection process but Nissan Motorsport Australia will hand one of their V8 Supercars to a driver next month whose background is the couch rather than the track.

Spaniard Lucas Ordonez will participate in a practice day at the Winton circuit as part of Nissan's global driver exchange program, continuing the 28-year old's remarkable journey from gamer to professional driver.

Ordonez's big break came when he won the inaugural GT Academy competition in 2008, a contest held by Sony and Nissan where players of the Gran Turismo PlayStation game were given the chance to win a spot in a real-life race team.

Since then Ordonez has gone on to forge a career as a professional driver, competing at some of the most famous endurance races in the world including the 24-Hour Le Mans event.

Ordonez will join Germany's Michael Krumm at the August 12 test day, where both will get their first taste of driving a V8 Supercar.

The pair were set to race for Nissan Motorsport at October's Gold Coast 600 event before the international co-driver concept used in the past three years was scrapped but will still be given the opportunity to show what they can do in front of team co-owners Todd and Rick Kelly.

Two-time Bathurst 1000 champion Rick Kelly has no qualms handing the keys to his Altima over to a man whose reputation was forged in bytes and pixels not grease and brake dust.

"The Gold Coast event has opened our eyes to the talent that lies in different parts of the world," Kelly said.

"We've learnt a lot from those races. To have Michael Krumm and Lucas Ordonez out here will be a great opportunity for them, and for us to learn from them as well."

Ordonez, who ultimately wants to compete at Mount Panorama, is viewing his first trip to Australia as an invaluable learning experience.

"I have spoken to some international guys who have driven the cars before, and they've told me that the cars are tricky to drive and tricky to make fast," he said.

"They say you can drive them over the kerbs quite aggressively, and the way you enter the corner has to change to make less wheel spin, because the car has a lot of power.

"This is a great chance for me to learn, have fun, and hopefully one day compete in the Bathurst 1000."