Post by Mr LayVon on Apr 18, 2012 1:05:00 GMT 6
Nissan has officially announced the next edition of their hugely-successful Nissan GT Academy in co-operation with Sony, the 2012 edition of the competition is due to start on May 1st.
Held since 2008, the GT Academy’s aim is to find talent in the virtual racing community and help them get a real racing career started. The success of the program has exceeded everyone’s expectations as all past GT Academy winners have become successful in racing with 2008 winner Lucas Ordonez even becoming 2011 International Le Mans Cup LMP2 champion.
Following a successful spin-off for American users, Nissan is now branching out the competition further as Germany and Russia get a dedicated GT Academy while other European countries remain in the main competition. With three regional competitions and one European one, GT Academy 2012 will see four winners that will enjoy the main prize – A drive in the 2013 Dubai 24 Hours race next January that will hopefully just be their first step in a long racing career.
Traditionally, the GT Academy starts out as an online time-trial competition to find the quickest racers, the GT Academy software will be available on the PlayStation Network starting May 1st. Ownership of Gran Turismo 5 is not required, everyone with a PlayStation 3 living in one of the participating countries is invited to give it their best shot. The online events will be held until June 24, the quickest drivers emerging from there will be challenged in a series of real-life meetings to further prove their skills.
To give you an idea what the participants experience there, Nissan has released a little video trailer you can watch below.
Held since 2008, the GT Academy’s aim is to find talent in the virtual racing community and help them get a real racing career started. The success of the program has exceeded everyone’s expectations as all past GT Academy winners have become successful in racing with 2008 winner Lucas Ordonez even becoming 2011 International Le Mans Cup LMP2 champion.
Following a successful spin-off for American users, Nissan is now branching out the competition further as Germany and Russia get a dedicated GT Academy while other European countries remain in the main competition. With three regional competitions and one European one, GT Academy 2012 will see four winners that will enjoy the main prize – A drive in the 2013 Dubai 24 Hours race next January that will hopefully just be their first step in a long racing career.
Traditionally, the GT Academy starts out as an online time-trial competition to find the quickest racers, the GT Academy software will be available on the PlayStation Network starting May 1st. Ownership of Gran Turismo 5 is not required, everyone with a PlayStation 3 living in one of the participating countries is invited to give it their best shot. The online events will be held until June 24, the quickest drivers emerging from there will be challenged in a series of real-life meetings to further prove their skills.
To give you an idea what the participants experience there, Nissan has released a little video trailer you can watch below.
