GT Academy

Nissan and Sony is bringing GT Academy back to the Middle East after its successful maiden run last year. Inaugural winner Salman Al-Khater from Qatar placed first in class at the Britcar 1000km and Nissan is looking to repeat the accomplishment with a new Nismo Athlete for 2014.

The second race of the United SportsCar Championship is the first race for Jann Mardenborough in the US. And he really has his work cut out for him as a rookie at the notoriously bumpy and difficult Florida circuit.

The Nismo Australia Facebook page has posted details for the second live qualifier event in the 2014 GT Academy Australia competition. It will be held at the first Formula 1 race of the year, the Australian GP in Albert Park, Melbourne. It will be open starting Thursday the 13th until Sunday the 16th.

Wolfgang Reip steps into the Le Mans 24 Hours for the first time, in one of the most non-typical debuts yet seen for the world famous race – in the hybrid electric Nissan ZEOD RC. Nissan is entering the car in the “Garage 56” category, which is a special entry slot by Le Mans organizers reserved for experimental or innovative racing concepts. He’ll share driving duties with team mate and colleague Lucas Ordoñez, who will be contesting his fourth straight Le Mans.

Nissan Australia has officially confirmed the GT Academy program is coming “Down Under”!

Jann Mardenborgough is set to get his first taste of racing in North America this March. He has joined the Nissan powered Muscle Milk Pickett Racing team for round two of the Tudor United SportsCar Championship (and Patrón North American Endurance Cup). The 2011 British GT Academy winner is teaming up with longtime Pickett drivers Klaus Graf and Lucas Luhr who have pushed the squad to championship success over the past two years in the bygone American Le Mans Series.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=DW0Cpgw5dzo

Jann Mardenborough is closing in on the ultimate target for most any aspiring racing driver, he now has a clear path under his feet that leads straight to an F1 racing seat for the first time.

Race Coverage

After the first rumors emerged a few days ago, the first 2014 GT Academy competition has now been officially announced for India.

Nissan is set to take on “the Mountain” for the first time in 22 years. Nissan is running the GT-R Nismo GT3 at the 2014 Bathurst 12 Hour, which is held at the world famous semi-permanent road course featured in GT6: Mount Panorama.

GT Academy, the program which turns Gran Turismo gamers into professional race car drivers, is coming to the world’s second-most populous country: India.

This guest contribution is by Nick McMillen, 2013 United States GT Academy Champion. This is his recount of his first major race and win, the 2014 24 Hours of Dubai, in his journey as one of the newest Nismo Athletes. Look out for future articles from our racing driver contributor coming soon as he experiences and takes steps through his professional career.

For those of you unable to get to the events, there’s an active Twitter feed for the series along with live timing that includes support events.

Speedcafe published an article highlighting Nissan’s plans to open up GT Academy in Australia sometime within the next year and a half. In the article, Nissan Global Motorsport Director Darren Cox gave his take on bringing the program to the country:

Images courtesy of GT Academy Flickr.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kc1omWH-0nQ

12 Finalists out of 400,000 entrants got the chance to go to Silverstone to prove themselves in Racecamp, now one of them has turned a far off dream into reality.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=4Pd-zway8gE

Amazon.com and GT Academy have teamed up to giveaway a 2014 Nissan 370Z NISMO Coupe, with an approximate retail value of more than $43,000.