Motorsports

Image courtesy of Nissan.

Thumbnail images courtesy of Nissan and Jordan Tresson.

Le Mans 2013 got off to a tragic start, as Aston Martin Racing driver Allan Simonsen was killed in an accident on the Tetre Rouge corner shortly after the start of the race. The thoughts and prayers of the GTPlanet community are with his family as we all mourn the loss of a very talented racing driver.

2013 marks a unique milestone in GT Academy. It’s the third successive year that gamers have taken to the track at the Le Mans 24 Hours, but this time they’re working together.

Nissan GT Academy Team RJN took victory in the Pro-Am class of the Blancpain Endurance Series race at Silverstone on Sunday.  The win for the No. 35 YouTube Nissan GT-R Nismo GT3 is the first class victory for Nissan in the Blancpain Series at the home of the GT Academy competition. The No. 32 GT-R GT3 retired in the late stages of the race with a technical fault.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=utokaR4Ypk4

Live Commentary, Timing & Scoring

Last year’s Le Mans 24 Hours was spiced up for fans of Gran Turismo with two GT Academy winners in two cars going head-to-head, as Lucas Ordoñez drove the #42 Greaves entry with the father-son Brundle duo and Jordan Tresson was aboard the #23 Signatech entry with Franck Mailleux and Oliver Lombard.

2011 U.S. GT Academy champion Bryan Heitkotter has been featured in a short documentary as part of Polygon’s “Human Angle”, a web series which highlights important and unusual people in the video gaming industry.

Images courtesy of Nissan & European F3.

Though Nissan have hinted at an invitational appearance during the season, it means the four graduates will not be racing in the UK’s top GT series in 2013. It’s likely their calendars (along with previous graduates’) will be announced when Nissan formalise their 2013 schedule at new Nismo headquarters opening in Yokohama on 26th February.

Andre Gomes tip courtesy of Joel Hader.