Internationals to Test Nissans

As part of the Nismo Global Driver Exchange announced last week, Nissan international racing drivers Michael Krumm and Lucas Ordonez will test for the Nissan Motorsport factory V8 Supercar team in Australia next month.

Fresh from a podium finish together at the recent Le Mans 24 Hours for Nissan, Krumm and Ordonez will fly to Australia to test two of the team’s Nissan Altima V8 Supercars in Australia at Winton Motor Raceway on Monday August 12. 

It will be the first drive of a V8 Supercar for both Krumm and Ordonez, who will test at the 3.0-kilometre Winton circuit a day ahead of Nissan Motorsport’s first official test day since the season launch event at Eastern Creek in February. 

Krumm and Ordonez will fly to Australia for their debut V8 Supercar test, then head straight to Japan for the Suzuka 1000 on August 17-18, Round Five of the 2013 SUPER GT Championship, where Krumm will drive his regular #24 Nissan GT-R in the GT500 class for the factory Nismo squad, and Ordonez for the NDDP outfit in the GT300 class.

A German native, Krumm has predominantly lived and raced in Japan for over a decade since marrying Japanese WTA Tennis Tour professional Kimiko Date-Krumm in 2001. 

Looking forward to the opportunity, Krumm feels the V8 Supercars test will be a good opportunity to see how the engine compares to others he has driven around the world. 

“I’m very much looking forward to it. I’ve always watched it on TV, and I like the cars. They have a lot of power and not very big tyres,” Krumm said.

“From what I know from driver colleagues that have driven the car, it will be a big challenge. It’s good for the driver, apparently, because you have to have a lot of different techniques. The driver plays a bigger role in the speed of the car.”

Krumm, 43, is an official Nismo ambassador and has achieved a long list of success with Nissan, including winning both the 2003 SUPER GT Championship and the 2011 FIA GT World Championship driving for Nissan. He also won the Japanese Formula 3 Championship in 1993, the All-Japan GT Championship in 1997 and finished third outright in the Le Mans 24 Hours in 2002.

Krumm was selected to race the Nissan DeltaWing in its debut at the 2012 Le Mans 24 Hours.

Ordonez also drove the Nissan DeltaWing in 2012, piloting the unique machine at Petit Le Mans in the United States.

Ordonez shot to fame in 2008 by winning the inaugural Nissan GT Academy program, an initiative between Nissan and Sony that turns PlayStation gamers into racing drivers.

The 28-year old scored his second Le Mans 24 Hours podium last month when along with Krumm and fellow Nissan GT Academy graduate Jann Mardenborough, Ordonez earned third place in the LM P2 category in an entry powered by Nissan.

As well as appearances in LM P2 and SUPER GT with Nissan, Ordonez races a Nissan GT-R Nismo GT3 in the FIA GT Series and Blancpain Endurance Series in Europe.

“Most of my racing has been in Europe, so to have the chance to drive a V8 Supercar is amazing,” Ordonez said. “It’s another step in my career.

“I have followed the V8s from Europe, and with Nissan entering in the championship, it’s amazing to hear the news that I’m testing the Altima V8 Supercar. I really can’t wait for it. I know it’s a tough car to drive with no electronic systems, no traction control, but it’s a proper racing car with a lot of power.

“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. 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.”

Last week’s Nismo Global Driver Exchange announcement also includes news that Nismo will enter a Nissan GT-R Nismo GT3 in the 2014 Bathurst 12 Hour in February next year, with Nissan Motorsport V8 Supercar driver and two-time Bathurst 1000 winner Rick Kelly to lead the outfit that will be entered as the ‘Nismo Athlete Global Team’.

Nissan Motor Company Australia General Manager, Motorsport Jeff Fisher said the test was a vote of confidence from Nissan’s global motorsport decision-makers, including Nismo, for the Australian program and the V8 Supercar Championship.