PlayStation 3 and Nissan Ireland have joined forces once again for GT Academy 2010.
If you have ever dreamed of a career as a professional racing driver then make sure you download the GT Academy time trial on Thursday 17th December and post your fastest lap
time. GT Academy wants to find Ireland’s fastest gaming racing driver and give them an opportunity to transfer their skills to real world racing tracks.
Driving fans with a PlayStation 3 and PlayStation Network (PSN) account can download the GT Academy Gran Turismo 5 time trial from the PlayStation Store. Participants will race on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course and record lap times in both a standard road version of Nissan’s stunning 370 Z as well as a tuned version of the same car. Combined lap times will give each player their leader-board place and they have until January 24th 2010 to complete and register their time. Holders of the 20 fastest lap times will then be invited to take part in a head to head final in February 2010 to determine Ireland’s national champion.
At this stage, the competition will move from the virtual to the real world. The national champion will travel to Silverstone to undergo an intensive weeklong training programme to see if they have what it takes to make it as a real world racing driver. They will compete against their European counterparts to find two overall winners who will go on to spend a further 8 weeks in Silverstone to qualify for their international racing licence. Only one of these final two participants will be successful and go on to race a full season as part of the Nissan team in the European GT4 Cup in a Nissan 370Z car.
This is the second year of the competition. Last year, GT Academy changed the life of Spanish student Lucas Ordonez who entered the competition and emerged a fully fledged member of the Nissan race team. Following his professional debut in the Dubai International 24 Hour Race alongside former F1 driver Johnny Herbert, Lucas went on to drive alongside British driver Alex Buncombe in the full European GT4 Cup season.
Commenting on the launch of GT Academy, Paul O’Sullivan, Marketing Director Nissan Ireland said: “Nissan Ireland is pleased be teaming up with PlayStation to find a racing champion to represent Ireland in GT Academy 2010. This competition offers entrants a once in a life time opportunity to become a racing driver and Nissan is delighted to be involved in the competition.”
Niall O’Hanrahan, Managing Director, Sony Computer Entertainment Ireland, said, “GT Academy offers one lucky racing fan the chance to turn their dream into a reality, and become a professional racing driver. The time trial is also a great opportunity for gamers and car enthusiasts to preview the much anticipated GT 5, due for release in 2010”.
