Motorsports

After relatively successful pre-race preparations for the GT Academy graduates, their relative fortunes took a turn for the worse come race day.

Following Jordan Tresson’s disappointing season-opener in the Sebring 12 Hour race two weeks ago, two more GT Academy graduates are involved in their own race series debuts this weekend.

2010 GT Academy champion Jordan Tresson was all set to make his FIA World Endurance Championship debut in the 12 Hours of Sebring this weekend, behind the wheel of Signatech Nissan’s new LMP2 car. Alas, it was not meant to be.

Following the GT Academy drivers’ successes in the Dubai 24 Hours in January, we brought you news of the three European drivers’ schedules for 2012. As promised, we now have news on Bryan Heitkotter’s plans for the coming season.

Following on from the earlier videos in the Road to Dubai series, Sony/Nissan GT Academy have now released a sixteenth episode, chronicling the progress of the drivers through the race itself.

Nissan Europe has today issued a press release detailing the campaigns their three GT Academy graduates will be driving in the 2012 season.

After 24 hours contending with the heat, dark and fireworks of Dubai, the all-GT Academy team of Lucas Ordoñez, Jordan Tresson, Bryan Heitkotter and Jann Mardenborough managed to bring their RJN Motorsport Nissan 370Z home in a creditable 3rd place in class and 26th overall:

All fans of driving games should be aware of this by now, but today marks the start of a most unique race. A seat in the Dubai 24 Hours has been the ultimate prize in all GT Academy events to date but today, for the first time, the car is driven exclusively by GT Academy alumni – with 2011 winners Bryan Heitkotter and Jann Mardenborough joining Jordan Tresson and Lucas Ordoñez behind the wheel of the RJN Motorsports Nissan 370Z.

With the 2012 Dubai 24 hour race fast approaching on 12-14th January, Nissan have published a “GT Academy: Road to Dubai” video serial that’s been broadcast on EuroSport since last September.

In addition to the all-GT Academy team campaigning in the Dubai 24hrs this month, Signatech Nissan team boss Philippe Sinault has announced his intended driver line-up for the 2012 World Endurance Championship:

The ‘Nürburgring 24 hour race’ is the world’s largest touring car event. Kazunori Yamauchi has returned to this extreme race, driven on the combined Grand Prix course and Nordschleife of the Nürburgring.

Nissan and PlayStation are aiming to demonstrate the success of their  GT Academy programme with a ground-breaking driver line-up at the prestigious Dubai 24 Hours (January 12-14, 2012). All four winners of the innovative virtual-to-reality competition will tackle the demanding endurance race as a team sharing the wheel of a 410bhp Nissan 370Z.

An extremely valuable piece of Gran Turismo memorabilia has gone up for auction on eBay: Lucas Ordoñez’s red couch. As of writing, bids for the stylish red sofa are already well over £400, and the auction doesn’t end until Monday!

European winner of the 2011 GT Academy, Jann Mardenborough, and his American counterpart Bryan Heitkotter, completed the final race of their intensive five-month ‘Driver Development Programme’ on Saturday 19 November. Competing in the Britcar MSA British Endurance Championship race at Brands Hatch, the pair recorded a notable first-in-class finish (fifth place overall) in their RJN Motorsport run Nissan 370Z GT4 race car. The result moves them ever closer to achieving their main goal of competing in the Dubai International 24 Hour race in January, 2012.

GT Academy winner Lucas Ordoñez and his Signatech Nissan team may have clinched the ILMC LMP2 championship last month at Road Atlanta, but a class victory has remained just out of reach the entire season – until now!

Last weekend, 2010 GT Academy winner Jordan Tresson became the second of Nissan’s graduates to win an international championship. Along with his RJN Motorsport team mates, Alex Buncombe and Chris Ward, he took the Nissan 370Z to the GT4 title in Sunday afternoon’s season-closing Blancpain Endurance Series race at Silverstone.

The Signatech Nissan team has won the 2011 Intercontinental Le Mans Cup LMP2 title after a strong finish in yesterday’s Petit Le Mans at Road Atlanta, USA.  The team started the season focused on a single goal: to win the title.  The fact that it is ‘mission accomplished’ with one more race remaining is testament to the work that has been put in by every single member of the team.

The GT Academy 2011 driver development programme shifted up a gear last weekend when European winner Jann Mardenborough had his first competitive outing in a 420bhp Nissan 370Z GT4 race car. Racing in the Welsh Sports and GT Championship at Pembrey, Wales, the gamer-turned-racing driver recorded two strong third place finishes and a fourth in the weekend’s three races.

European GT Academy winner Jann Mardenborough’s bid to make the jump from PlayStation gamer to real racing driver took a massive step forward on Sunday when he contested a round of the Nippon Challenge national series at the UK’s Rockingham Circuit. The 19-year-old from Cardiff had an almost faultless day in the Nissan 370Z taking pole position and dominant wins in both races and recording the fastest lap of race one in the process. Jann’s American counterpart, Bryan Heitkotter, completed an excellent weekend for the PlayStation® Nissan Team taking second on the grid, second place in both races and the second fastest lap.