For a seventh year, Nissan and Sony PlayStation have joined forces to offer a ‘dream job’ of a racing driver seat to one Gran Turismo racer.
The Nissan PlayStation GT Academy opens up the possibility of a motorsports career to anyone that has ever wanted to race, the only criteria being that participants must be 18 years old or over. The first round started on April 21 and will run until June 16, through in-game challenges on Gran Turismo 6 on PlayStation 3 consoles. There will also be a series of live events for those without the correct consoles.
The final selection process happens at a real race track, and this year will move to Yas Marina in Abu Dhabi from Silverstone. The winner will undergo a very advanced driver development programme, and then will earn a seat in the highly competitive Blancpain Endurance Series for a season, in a Nissan GT-R NISMO GT3.
GT Academy has a proven track record. In 2015 alone, previous winners will compete in: the top class (LMP1) at the 24 Hours of Le Mans, GP3, FIA World Endurance Championship, Blancpain Endurance Series and the Japanese Super GT series.
“Whenever I explain GT Academy to people I meet, no matter who, they are blown away by the concept,” explains Olivier Pierini, Sponsorship and Partnership Manager for Nissan Europe. “Either they want to enter themselves or they know someone who would love it. So this year we simply want to make GT Academy bigger and more accessible than ever. GT Academy delivers ‘innovation that excites’ and we want to shout about it and put it firmly on the radar of those that are tempted to take another road in their lives and follow a dream.”
“This is another exciting milestone year for GT Academy and a source of great pride for us,” says Kazunori Yamauchi, President of Polyphony Digital Inc., the creators of Gran Turismo. “We have two GT Academy graduates racing in the top class at Le Mans and an ambitious programme that will introduce new fans to Gran Turismo, as they test themselves to see if they have what it takes to follow in the footsteps of Jann [Mardenborough], Lucas [Ordoñez] and the other NISMO Athletes. It is truly an incredible competition and I would highly recommend that people have a go, whatever their level on the game.”
The opening round will take place through online events on the Gran Turismo 6 PlayStation 3 game until June 16. This competition is open to players over the age of 18 in the following European countries: United Kingdom, France, Italy, Germany, Spain, Portugal, Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg, Poland, Hungary and Czech Republic. Terms and conditions can be found on: www.facebook.com/GTAcademy or www.gran-turismo.com
