Fresh in from SCEE, some news on the GT Academy…
Log onto www.gtacademy.eu to start your journey in the ultimate driving competition courtesy of PlayStation®, Nissan and Gran Turismo 5 Prologue™.
Nurburgring, 24 May 2008: Drivers of the world, start your engines - the GT Academy has arrived. The ultimate competitive driving test will begin on June 2nd when GT Academy goes live in Gran Turismo 5 Prologue™. The pan-European competition will be open to residents of the UK & Ireland, France, Italy, Spain, Germany & Austria, Finland, Sweden, Norway and Denmark and sees PlayStation® and Nissan unite the worlds of virtual and real-life racing to make the dreams of aspiring race drivers a reality. The competition will run as follows:
Stage One: www.gtacademy.eu – 2nd June 2008 for seven weeks
The first phase of GT Academy will take place online with a giant Gran Turismo 5 Prologue tournament on PLAYSTATION®Network. The competition will run for seven weeks and to enter, players must register their PLAYSTATION Network sign in ID on www.gtacademy.eu. The next time they play GT5 Prologue online they will be able to race in the GT Academy Time Trial where they will compete to be the fastest around the Eiger Nordwand track in a Nissan Fairlady 350Z.
Stage Two: National Final - July 2008
The fastest 20 drivers in each country will be invited to a national final to compete head to head on Gran Turismo 5 Prologue. The three fastest drivers from the final will win a seat at the…
Stage Three: GT Academy at Silverstone - 25 August 2008
The virtual gives way to tarmac as the fastest three drivers from each country travel to Silverstone, the home of British motor racing, to take part in the GT Academy - a real-life driving competition on the track itself. Competitors will not only have to prove their driving skills in a Nissan GT-R but will also be tested for their mental and physical skills in a series of tests.
The two fastest drivers from Silverstone then have the chance to enter a four month training programme to earn their racing licenses and take part in a real life race in a fully race prepared Nissan 350Z at the 24 Hour endurance event in Dubai in January 2009.
Speaking at Nurburgring 24H race, Kazunori Yamauchi, President of Polyphony Digital producers of Gran Turismo said: “This is a very exciting day for Gran Turismo. The Gran Turismo story started 10 years ago with the ambition to make a racing game that gives players the ultimate driving simulation experience. The GT Academy is the ultimate realisation of this ambition taking the Gran Turismo experience to the next level.
Stephane Cottin, Vice President, Marketing and Strategy, for Nissan in Europe continued: “GT Academy is a first for the motoring industry. Never before has a competition of this scale been undertaken to unite the worlds of virtual and real-life racing. GT Academy sets the challenge to see if gamers can recreate their performance behind of wheel of a real racing car and on their journey be amongst the first in Europe to drive the GT-R on track.”
For full terms and conditions and more information about GT Academy visit www.gtacademy.eu.
now thats a comp that i would be interested in if i liked GT!
Comment by iagdad — May 27, 2008 @ 12:11 pm
Nurburgring is coming to Prologue confirmed???? omg omg omg
Comment by rothbury — May 27, 2008 @ 12:37 pm
…but can you drive the fastest around Nurburgring in a white Ford Transit van? I don’t recall seeing that vehicle on offer.
BFN,
fp.
Comment by fanpages — May 27, 2008 @ 12:41 pm
I’m entering right now…
Comment by PSN ID: Artiom — May 27, 2008 @ 1:02 pm
Brilliant comp!
I would wreck the car in real life if I drove the way I do in GT5…
Comment by Emmett — May 27, 2008 @ 1:12 pm
I wonder why it’s not available in Portugal…
Comment by Fabio — May 27, 2008 @ 2:24 pm
…or The Netherlands, or Switzerland? Or Greece? Or Turkey? Or Russia, or the umpteen countries within European in-between?
Perhaps the organisers have omitted countries with a history of producing winning drivers?
Or perhaps they are getting their own back for the entrants to The Eurovision Song Contest?
BFN,
fp.
Comment by fanpages — May 27, 2008 @ 3:36 pm
shame i loath the Eiger Nordwand track..
i expect some obsessed freak with a GT:HD fixation to win.
Comment by mobiletone — May 27, 2008 @ 5:26 pm
FYI:
[ uk.playstation.com/games-media/news/articles/detail/item119842/GT-Academy-winners-announced ]
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Publish date: 3 September 2008
GT Academy winners announced
PLAYSTATION®3
Two winners to join up with the Nissan racing team after a gruelling GT Academy Final at Silverstone, UK.
After five days of stern competition, including rigorous mental and physical tests under the scrutiny of experts, 28-year-old taxi driver, Lars Schlömer of Germany, and 23-year-old student Lucas Ordóñez, from Spain, have won the GT Academy Final.
“I can’t believe it. This is a dream come true,” said Ordóñez after lifting the trophy and earning a place on Nissan’s driver training programme, as well as the opportunity to shine in the ultimate test of driving skill and stamina: the Dubai 24-hour endurance race in January 2009.
“I have wanted this for the last ten years of my life but I just never had the chance. I truly would have been heartbroken if I hadn’t won,” enthused Schlömer, who will now be driving cutting-edge racing cars instead of his taxi.
Emotions ran high as the winners were announced. Not only had both participants dreamed of becoming racing drivers, they had taken part in a gruelling week of driving assessments under the scrutiny of experts, early morning fitness tests and stiff competition from the best virtual racers in Europe.
British Formula One legend Johnny Herbert was on hand to mentor the finalists, and he was amazed by the overall standard. “Looking at the 22 GT Academy finalists for the first time,” he said, “I was sure there would be a few with absolutely no feeling, who wouldn’t make it out of second gear, but we didn’t have one. This competition has far exceeded my expectations.”
Speaking about the participants’ journey from Gran Turismo 5 to the real life track, GT Academy Leader Steve Deeks said: “After this process I have been re-evaluating how we should teach young drivers and I would now recommend that people get into PlayStation before they come to us.
“All of these guys arrived at Silverstone knowing about sequential gearboxes, oversteer, understeer, driving lines etc. And the reaction time and ability to cope with the pressure they have had coming through the gaming part of the competition made them very well equipped from day one.”
Look for interviews with the winners and progress updates, coming soon to eu.playstation.com, and for more information on GT Academy, head to http://www.gtacademy.eu. Also, look out for exclusive behind the scenes videos from the GT Academy Final, coming soon to PLAYSTATION Store.
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Images available at the above hyperlink address.
BFN,
fp.
Comment by fanpages — Sep 5, 2008 @ 9:39 am
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