GT Academy

European GT Academy winner Jann Mardenborough and his American counterpart, Bryan Heitkotter, are now one race weekend away from gaining their International race licences after a metronomic performance in the Britcar Dunlop Production GTN championship race at the newly-refurbished Snetterton circuit in Norfolk.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vo8BVV602Oc

After one of the most gruelling ‘Total 24 Hours of Spa’ in many years, the RJN Motorsport Nissan 370Z of Jordan Tresson, Alex Buncombe and Chris Ward crossed the line as the GT4 race winner! This marks the first international victory for a GT Academy winner and indeed for the production class Nissan 370Z.

European GT Academy winner Jann Mardenborough and his American counterpart Bryan Heitkotter faced the toughest challenge so far of their intensive ‘Driver Development Programme’ on Sunday, 24 July at Castle Combe. The pair campaigned their PlayStation® Nissan Team 370Z to a second-in-class finish (17th place overall) in the competitive Britcar Dunlop Production GTN Championship. The strong result in the two-hour endurance race secured each driver two more vital ‘signatures’ required for them to attain the international race licence that will allow them to compete in the Dubai International 24 Hour Race in January 2012.

European GT Academy 2011 winner Jann Mardenborough had another amazing weekend on-track, recording a notable first in class, third overall, finish at the Donington Park round of the Production Touring Car Trophy. More importantly, the weekend’s results have moved Jann another step closer to qualifying for an international race licence, necessary to compete at the next 24 Hours of Dubai. With the 19-year-old from Cardiff collecting valuable signatures at Donington, his licence has now been upgraded from National ‘B’ to National ‘A’, and his motor sport CV now reads; two race meetings, two podiums.

It was another busy weekend for real-world motorsports, and GT Academy stars were right in the action with great results. First up, Lucas Ordoñez and team Signatech Nissan were back on track at the the latest round in the ILMC 2011, the 6 Hours of Imola. The team drove a fast and consistent race, repeating their success at Le Mans with another excellent second-in-class finish, holding their lead in the points for the overall championship.

The first complete interview with 2011 European GT Academy winner Jann Mardenborough has been posted to GT Academy’s Facebook page, and offers an interesting, inside look at the competition from the winner’s eyes. Once again, congratulations, Jann!

The results are in: 19-year-old Jann Mardenborough from Cardiff, UK, has just been chosen as the European GT Academy 2011 champion! Head judge (and former F1 driver) Eddie Irvine made the announcement on Thursday after Jann finished first in a 20-minute race against the three other finalists (Thibault Lacombe of France, Carlos Murillo of Spain, and Danilo Bordino of Italy).

As you’ve probably heard by now, GT Academy winner Lucas Ordoñez and his teammates Franck Mailleux and Soheil Ayari drove an incredible race at this year’s 24 Hours of Le Mans. Despite two unfortunate tire punctures, they pushed their Signatech Oreca Nissan back up through the field of LMP2 cars – all the way to a second place class finish in the world’s toughest endurance race.

GT Academy winner Lucas Ordoñez and his Signatech Racing team are off to an incredible start at Le Mans, taking class pole in the LMP2 category with a 3:41.458 around La Sarthe. That’s 1.1 seconds ahead of the next LMP2 challenger, and nearly half a second faster than Oak Racing’s LMP1 car! For more, see the full qualifying results along with this overview of the day’s events.

Brian Heitkotter (GTXf_CudaMan) has just been announced as winner of the first U.S. GT Academy! The win comes at a great time for 30-year-old Brian, who is bouncing back in a big way after having been laid off from his former job as a delivery driver in California. Now, he gets a quick break at home before returning to England, where he’ll continue training throughout the summer with Nissan for the 24 Hours of Dubai next January. Congratulations, Brian!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HVr5rQB1pRU

The 24 Hours of Le Mans is just a few weeks away now, and Lucas Ordoñez is doing what he can to get ready. Take a look at this video which shows one of the more interesting ways Lucas is being psychologically prepared for the hardships of a 24-hour race, with a simulated endurance drive around England in a Nissan GT-R.

If you competed in GT Academy USA earlier this year, you know exactly how difficult it was to make the cut during the Round 3 time trials. Those who made it to the National Finals in Orlando are obviously very talented, and the final 16 going to Silverstone next week are the best in the country. What’s it like to make it that far in the competition, and how can you do it, yourself?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S_UdLgoft9w

Sony has released a batch of pictures from last week’s GT Academy 2011 Netherlands region finals, where 24-year-old Thomas Arends (Thomms) from The Hague and 20-year-old Edwin Bos (GTHQ_BosjesmanEB) from Groningen came out on top after completing a series of physical, media, and driving tests (just as finalists did in the UK & Ireland).

Regional finals for GT Academy 2011 are taking place around Europe, and the official results from the UK & Ireland event are in with two GTPlanet members earning tickets to Silverstone! 19-year-old Jann Mardenborough (TECHNIKRS4) from Cardiff and 29-year-old wild-card winner James Hudson (TwinturboCH) from Bromley came out on top after a challenging event. Not only did the finalists have to compete against each other, they also had to prove themselves in a series of media, driving, and physical fitness tests at Brands Hatch.

GT Academy winner Lucas Ordoñez and his Signatech Nissan team competed in the Spa Francorchamps 1000km on Saturday, in front of a massive crowd of over 35,000 people. Starting from third-place qualifying position in the LMP2 class, Signatech took the class lead in the first corner of the race. All went well until contact with a GT car required work in the pits that put them 4 laps down, then a steering problem later in the race required even more unexpected repairs.

Winner of the first GT Academy and ILMC 2011 driver Lucas Ordonez has teamed up with other drivers on the grid at this weekend’s Spa Francorchamps 1000km to host a track-side Gran Turismo 5 challenge, benefiting victims of the devastating tsunamis in Japan.

The GT Academy EU 2011 Round 1 time trials just wrapped up earlier this week, and SCEE has released some official stats about this year’s contest. More than 90,000 players from each of the 10 eligible countries took part in the competition (as you may recall, the first U.S. competition brought in 50,000), but only the top 20 drivers from each region will be moving on to their respective, head-to-head racing finals.