The Nissan PlayStation® 2012 GT Academy 2012 Gaming Qualification Goes Live!
As the clock ticks midnight on the Big Ben, just as Cinderella’s chariot turns back into good old pumpkins comes your chance to turn from a part-time gamer to a full-fledged racer. The virtual-to-reality racing competition is open to anyone in the Middle East and South Africa with a PlayStation®3 console by freely downloading a GT Academy qualification challenge themed around the hugely popular Gran Turismo® game. What awaits you is perhaps your dream – or perhaps something you haven’t dared to dream of! It’s the chance to be part of an intensive driver development training programme that has turned previous winners into professional racing drivers with Nissan.
To enter, all competitors need access to a PS3™ with internet connection, and should register on PlayStation®Network.
The eight-step online qualification format, specially developed by legendary Gran Turismo® creator Kazunori Yamauchi, poses gamers and motorsport fans a variety of fun and exciting challenges that reflect the wide range of driving skills required to master the fine art of becoming a professional racing driver. Entrants have eight weeks to complete these adrenaline-fuelled driving contests, which include handling powerful Nissan rear-wheel-drive performance cars and mastering cornering techniques at high speeds, to setting the fastest possible lap times in wet and challenging conditions.
The previous winners - Lucas Ordoñez, Jordan Tresson, Jann Mardenborough and Bryan Heitkotter - are all competing in full race programmes for Nissan during 2012. Only one question remains: who will be the next GT Academy Champion?
Needless to say, it’s a whole lot of fun all the way. Kazunori Yamauchi says, “I felt that the only way to really do it right for GT Academy was to create a format where not only veteran Gran Turismo players, but also players who have never tried a driving simulator before, can experience the depth of race driving and the fun and excitement of time trials.”
Anyone from a participating country aged 21 or over holding a full driving licence, and eligible under the terms and conditions of the competition, can enter GT Academy. The online stage of GT Academy runs from 00:00 GMT today (4am UAE time) for eight weeks until the early hours of Monday, 10 December, 2012 (closing at 23:59 GMT on 10/12/12). The competition will consist of eight driving rounds released in four groups of two rounds every fortnight.
Of the twenty five ‘Regional Finalists’, a total of eight winners will go through to the GT Academy ‘Race Camp’ at Silverstone – a ‘boot camp’ for aspiring racing drivers. ‘Race Camp’ will culminate with the selection of one GT Academy Champion, who will be put through the advanced ‘Driver Development’ programme in preparation for competing in the prestigious Silverstone International 24 Hour Race in a full race-spec Nissan 370Z GT4 car.
Details of how to enter GT Academy 2012 can be found at www.facebook.com/GTAcademy or www.gran-turismo.com and www.twitter.com/PlayStation_ME
