Carmen Jordá Buades (born 28 May 1988) is a Spanish
motor racing
An engine or motor is a machine designed to convert one or more forms of energy into mechanical energy.
Available energy sources include potential energy (e.g. energy of the Earth's gravitational field as exploited in hydroelectric power gene ...
driver. From 2015 to 2017, she was a development driver for the Lotus and Renault Sport Formula One teams. Her appointment by Lotus saw her become just the eleventh woman in history to be part of a Formula 1 team's driver line-up.
She has competed in other motor racing series such as GP3, Indy Lights and the Le Mans Series.
She was born in
Alcoy
Alcoy (; ; officially: / ) is an industrial and university city, region and municipality located in the Valencian Community, Spain. The Serpis river crosses the municipal boundary of Alcoy. The local authority reported a population of 61,135 r ...
, Spain and currently resides in
Valencia
Valencia ( , ), formally València (), is the capital of the Province of Valencia, province and Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Valencian Community, the same name in Spain. It is located on the banks of the Turia (r ...
, Spain.
Early life and career
Carmen is the daughter of former motor racing driver Jose Miguel Jordá, who introduced her to the sport at an early age.
She began her career in karting, before progressing to Master Junior Formula as a teenager, and then onto
Spanish Formula 3.
In the
2007 Spanish Formula 3 season, Jordá finished fourth in the
Copa F300 standings – recording three podium finishes during the season. She continued to race in F3 in 2008 and 2009 – competing in the very first season of the new
European F3 Open Championship
The Euroformula Open Championship (formerly the Spanish Formula Three Championship, European F3 Open Championship) is a junior formula racing series based in Spain. It was one of six national and international Formula Three championships in Europe ...
.
In 2009 she competed in the
Le Mans Series
The European Le Mans Series (abbreviated as ELMS) is a European sports car racing endurance series inspired by the 24 Hours of Le Mans race and organized by the Automobile Club de l'Ouest (ACO). The European Le Mans Series is similar to the ...
for the Q8 Oils Hache Team, racing in the LMP2 class.
Indy Lights (2010)
On 19 January 2010, Jordá tested an
Indy Lights
Indy NXT (pronounced "Indy Next"), previously Indy Lights, is an American developmental automobile racing series sanctioned by IndyCar, currently known as INDY NXT by Firestone for sponsorship reasons. Indy NXT is the highest step on the Roa ...
car for
Walker Racing
Walker Racing was a racing team founded by Derrick Walker in 1991 racing originally in the CART Championship Car series. It last competed in the United SportsCar Championship under the name of Team Falken Tire until Falken Tire pulled out of n ...
at
Sebring International Raceway
Sebring International Raceway is a road course auto racing facility in the Southeastern United States, southeastern United States, located near Sebring, Florida.
Sebring Raceway is one of the oldest continuously operating race tracks in the U.S ...
and later tested an Indy Lights car for
Andersen Racing
Andersen Racing was a professional auto racing team that competed in Firestone Indy Lights and Star Mazda competition. It was owned by Dan Andersen, who founded the U.S. F2000 National Championship in 1991 and his brother John Andersen. The team w ...
at
Barber Motorsports Park
Barber Motorsports Park is an racing facility in Birmingham, Alabama. It was built by George W. Barber, and includes the Barber Vintage Motorsport Museum. It has been the site of the IndyCar Series' Grand Prix of Alabama since 2010 IndyCar Ser ...
.
Almost two months later, on March 8, 2010, it was announced that Jordá had signed with
Andersen Racing
Andersen Racing was a professional auto racing team that competed in Firestone Indy Lights and Star Mazda competition. It was owned by Dan Andersen, who founded the U.S. F2000 National Championship in 1991 and his brother John Andersen. The team w ...
full-time to drive in the
Firestone Indy Lights Series
Indy NXT (pronounced "Indy Next"), previously Indy Lights, is an American developmental automobile racing series sanctioned by IndyCar, currently known as INDY NXT by Firestone for sponsorship reasons. Indy NXT is the highest step on the Road ...
for the
2010 season.
Jordá made her first career start in the Firestone Indy Lights Series on March 28, 2010, at the Firestone Indy Grand Prix of
St. Petersburg
Saint Petersburg, formerly known as Petrograd and later Leningrad, is the second-largest city in Russia after Moscow. It is situated on the River Neva, at the head of the Gulf of Finland on the Baltic Sea. The city had a population of 5,601, ...
on the
Streets of St. Petersburg, finishing in 11th position as the last car running after starting in 15th of 16 cars.
After completing only one lap before retiring at
Barber Motorsports Park
Barber Motorsports Park is an racing facility in Birmingham, Alabama. It was built by George W. Barber, and includes the Barber Vintage Motorsport Museum. It has been the site of the IndyCar Series' Grand Prix of Alabama since 2010 IndyCar Ser ...
,
Jordá had her best career finish in the Firestone Indy Lights Series and attained her first top–10 finish on April 18, 2010, at the
Streets of Long Beach.
After a three-race hiatus, missing races at the
Indianapolis Motor Speedway
The Indianapolis Motor Speedway is a motor racing circuit located in Speedway, Indiana, United States, an enclave suburb of Indianapolis, Indiana. It is the home of the Indianapolis 500 and the Brickyard 400, and and formerly the home of the U ...
,
Iowa Speedway
Iowa Speedway is a oval short track in Newton, Iowa. Since its inaugural season of racing in 2006, the track has hosted a variety of racing events, including events sanctioned by NASCAR and IndyCar. NASCAR has owned the facility since 2013, wi ...
, and
Watkins Glen International
Watkins Glen International, nicknamed "The Glen", is an automobile race track in the Northeastern United States, northeastern United States, located in Dix, New York, just southwest of the village of Watkins Glen, New York, Watkins Glen, at the ...
, Jordá made her return to competition at the
Exhibition Place
Exhibition Place is a publicly owned mixed-use district in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, located by the shoreline of Lake Ontario, just west of downtown. The site includes exhibit, trade, and banquet centres, theatre and music buildings, monuments, ...
in
Toronto
Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...
on July 18, 2010. However, the race did not fare well for her, as she finished in last place.
The next weekend, at
Edmonton City Centre Airport
Edmonton City Centre Airport (ECCA), was an airport within the city of Edmonton, in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Alberta.
It was bordered by Alberta Highway 16, Yellowhead Trail to the north, Kingsway (Edmonto ...
for the Edmonton Indy 100, Jordá completed only six laps in the race before encountering gearbox problems. She finished in last place
for the second straight race. Jordá did not make another start for the remainder of the season and missed races at
Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course
Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course is a road course auto racing facility located in Troy Township, Morrow County, Ohio, United States, just outside the village of Lexington. It hosts a number of racing series such as IndyCar, IMSA WeatherTech Sportsc ...
,
Infineon Raceway
Sonoma Raceway (originally known as Sears Point Raceway, Golden State International Raceway and Infineon Technologies, Infineon Raceway) is a road course and dragstrip located at Sears Point in the southern Sonoma Mountains of Sonoma County, Cal ...
,
Chicagoland Speedway
Chicagoland Speedway is an inactive tri-oval Oval track racing#Intermediate, intermediate speedway in Joliet, Illinois. It has hosted various major races throughout its existence, including NASCAR and IndyCar races. The track is currently own ...
,
Kentucky Speedway
Kentucky Speedway is an inactive tri-oval intermediate speedway in Sparta, Kentucky. It has hosted various major races throughout its existence, including NASCAR and IndyCar races. The track is owned by Speedway Motorsports, LLC (SMI) and ...
, and
Homestead–Miami Speedway
Homestead–Miami Speedway (formerly known as the Homestead Motorsports Complex from 1995 to 1998) is a oval-shaped Oval track racing#Intermediate, intermediate speedway in Homestead, Florida. It has hosted various major auto racing series thr ...
.
GP3 (2012–2014)
Jordá made her debut in
GP3 with
Ocean Racing Technology
Ocean Racing Technology (ORT) was a racing team that took part in both the GP2 Main Series and the GP2 Asia Series Championships. The team, owned by Tiago Monteiro and José Guedes, was formed at the end of the 2008 season after being purchased ...
in 2012. Jordá finished the season 28th in the driver's championship failing to score any points. In
2013
2013 was the first year since 1987 to contain four unique digits (a span of 26 years).
2013 was designated as:
*International Year of Water Cooperation
*International Year of Quinoa
Events
January
* January 5 – 2013 Craig, Alask ...
Jordá signed with
Bamboo Engineering
Craft-Bamboo Racing is an auto racing team. It was founded in 2014 after the merger of Craft Racing from Hong Kong and Bamboo Engineering from the United Kingdom.
Craft Racing was established by Frank Yu in 2009 and was a front running team in ...
and finished the season 30th in the driver's championship, again failing to score any points. For
2014 season Jordá signed with
Koiranen GP
Koiranen Kemppi Motorsport, formerly also known as Koiranen bros. Motorsport and Koiranen GP, is a Finnish auto racing team based in Lahti, Finland. The team currently fields a one car entry in the LMP3 class of Asian Le Mans Series and Prototype ...
, again failing to score any points.
Formula 1 (2015–2016)
On 6 February 2015, it was announced that Jordá had joined Lotus F1 as a
development driver
Development or developing may refer to:
Arts
*Development (music), the process by which thematic material is reshaped
* Photographic development
*Filmmaking, development phase, including finance and budgeting
*Development hell, when a projec ...
.
This made her just one of 11 women in history to be included on a Formula 1 team's driver line-up. However she was only used as a sim driver.
The recruitment of Jorda was vocally criticized by some within the sport. Former rally driver and head of the
FIA's Women & Motor Sport Commission,
Michèle Mouton
Michèle Hélène Raymonde Mouton (born 23 June 1951) is a French former rally driver. Competing in the World Rally Championship for the Audi factory team, she took four victories and finished runner-up in the drivers' world championship in 198 ...
, described her as a "marketing gimmick", citing "
Simona de Silvestro
Simona de Silvestro (born 1 September 1988) is a Swiss people, Swiss-Italians, Italian racing driver, who is currently employed by Porsche as a factory driver. She has previously driven for Andretti Autosport, Amlin Andretti in the 2015/16 seaso ...
,
Danica Patrick
Danica Sue Patrick (; born March 25, 1982) is an American former professional racing driver and model. She is the most successful woman in the history of American open-wheel car racing—her victory in the 2008 Indy Japan 300 is the only win ...
,
Susie Wolff
Suzanne Wolff ( Stoddart; born 6 December 1982) is a Scottish former professional racing driver and current managing director of F1 Academy.
Wolff started in kart racing, karting, before graduating to Formula Renault and Formula Three, th ...
or even
Beitske Visser
Beitske Visser (born 10 March 1995) is a Dutch people, Dutch Auto racing#Racing driver, racing driver. She has raced in kart, single-seater, GT and prototype series.
Career
Karting
Born in Dronten, Visser began karting in 2007 and raced in va ...
" as better choices. Writing for ''
Vice
A vice is a practice, behaviour, Habit (psychology), habit or item generally considered morally wrong in the associated society. In more minor usage, vice can refer to a fault, a negative character trait, a defect, an infirmity, or a bad or unhe ...
'', James Newbold commented that the signing of Jorda had been "the wrong message", suggesting she got the position based on her looks rather than her performances in GP3, where she finished 29th in 2014, while only the series winner
Alex Lynn
Alexander George Lynn (born 17 September 1993) is a British people, British racing driver who is from Great Dunmow. He currently competes in the 2025 FIA World Endurance Championship driving the No. 12 Cadillac V-Series.R for Jota Sport. Lynn h ...
also secured a spot with a Formula One team for 2015. In an interview with Motorsport.com, Jordá spoke of her surprise at Mouton's comments and her ambition to invite her to an F1 race so "she can better understand exactly what her plans are with Lotus". In April 2015, Jordá spoke out in favour of a separate championship for women, saying: "It's not fair that women have to compete in the same championship as men, because we're never going to become World Champion, and I think women deserve that chance." Her view was criticised by other female racing drivers, such as
ADAC Formula 4
ADAC Formula 4 () was a racing series regulated according to FIA Formula 4 regulations. The inaugural season was the 2015 ADAC Formula 4. It replaced the ADAC Formel Masters, held from 2008 to 2014.
History
Gerhard Berger and the FIA Single S ...
participant
Sophia Flörsch
Sophia Flörsch (; born 1 December 2000) is a Germans, German racing driver who last competed in 2025 Indy NXT, Indy NXT with HMD Motorsports. She has previously raced in FIA Formula 3 Championship, Formula 3, Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters, DTM, t ...
and
Indianapolis 500
The Indianapolis 500, formally known as the Indianapolis 500-Mile Race, and commonly shortened to Indy 500, is an annual automobile race held at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in Speedway, Indiana, United States, an enclave suburb of Indian ...
driver
Pippa Mann
Pippa Mann (born 11 August 1983) is a British racing car driver who currently competes in the Nürburgring Langstrecken-Serie. She has also competed in the IndyCar Series. She was born in London, United Kingdom.
Career
Formula Renault
Man ...
.
Formula 1 chief executive
Bernie Ecclestone
Bernard Charles Ecclestone (born 28 October 1930) is a British business magnate, motorsport executive and former racing driver. Widely known in journalism as the "F1 Supremo", Ecclestone founded the Formula One Group in 1987, controlling the c ...
defended the appointment of Jordá, praising her in particular for being "prepared to give up what it takes". In an interview with ''Motorsport.com'' he spoke of his hopes to unearth more female talent in the future, arguing that a lack of other women racing at a comparable level makes criticism of Jordá unfair. He said: "She is very good. We asked Lotus to see and she has done a good job for them. She wants to be in F1. We have to try to find the right way, but she is not alone. There are plenty of other people." For , Jorda remained with the team, now known as
Renault Sport Formula One Team
Renault, a French automobile manufacturer, has been associated with Formula One as both team owner and engine manufacturer for various periods since 1977. In 1977, the company entered Formula One as a constructor, introducing the turbo engine ...
, after Lotus was bought out by the French manufacturer.
In early 2016, former Lotus test driver
Marco Sørensen
Marco Lorentz Sørensen (born 6 September 1990) is a Denmark, Danish racing driver and Aston Martin factory driver who is currently set to compete in the FIA World Endurance Championship and in Super GT for D'station Racing. He won the World Endur ...
claimed that she had been as much as twelve seconds off his pace in simulator runs. This claim was rejected by Jordá, who told Spanish newspaper AS that her simulator times had been "more or less within a second" of fellow Lotus driver
Romain Grosjean
Romain David Jeremie Grosjean (; born 17 April 1986) is a French and Swiss racing driver, who competes in the IMSA SportsCar Championship for Lamborghini and serves as a reserve driver in the IndyCar Series for Prema. Grosjean competed under ...
.
W Series (2019)
In 2019, Jordá entered qualifying for the
W Series. However, she did not attend the evaluation day and was automatically excluded from the qualifying process.
Off-track activities
In December 2017, Jordá was appointed to the FIA's Women in Motorsport commission.
Her appointment was greeted with derision by many successful female racing drivers. Speaking to ''
Autosport
''Autosport'' is a global motorsport publishing brand headquartered based in Richmond, London, England. It was established in 1950 at the same time as the origins of the Formula One, Formula One World Championship.
Autosport began life as a we ...
'' magazine, then-current Indianapolis 500 driver and race-winning
Indy Lights
Indy NXT (pronounced "Indy Next"), previously Indy Lights, is an American developmental automobile racing series sanctioned by IndyCar, currently known as INDY NXT by Firestone for sponsorship reasons. Indy NXT is the highest step on the Roa ...
driver Pippa Mann commented that "it is extremely disappointing to learn that a racer with no notable results in any of the categories in which she has competed, and who believes and is quoted as saying that she does not believe we as female racers can compete, has been appointed to the FIA Women in Motorsport Commission."
Racing record
Career summary
Le Mans Series results
American open-wheel racing results
(
key) (Races in bold indicate pole position)
Indy Lights
Complete GP3 Series results
(
key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in ''italics'' indicate fastest lap)
References
External links
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Jorda, Carmen
1988 births
Living people
Sportspeople from Alcoy
Sportspeople from Valencia
Spanish racing drivers
Spanish female racing drivers
Euroformula Open Championship drivers
Indy Lights drivers
European Le Mans Series drivers
MRF Challenge Formula 2000 Championship drivers
Spanish GP3 Series drivers
Campos Racing drivers
Koiranen GP drivers
Ocean Racing Technology drivers
Craft-Bamboo Racing drivers
Lamborghini Super Trofeo drivers
21st-century Spanish sportswomen