GT Academy

GT Academy champion and Bathurst 12 Hour winner Wolfgang Reip has spoken for the first time about his battle with a debilitating hearing disorder, as he seeks to raise funds for research into the condition.

Ricardo Sanchez, the 2014 winner of the GT Academy International event, was part of a driver squad that has won its class at the TotalEnergy 24 Hours of Spa.

If you fancy picking up a very special piece of Gran Turismo memorabilia, there’s an interesting opportunity this week for fans based in Spain.

January might not seem like a month for motorsport milestones, but January 14 does mark a very significant occasions. It was on this day in 2012 that a team of drivers made up entirely of racing gamers took a podium finish at a major 24-hour race.

Things have been a little quiet on the GT Academy front recently. As GT Sport’s full esports competition got into action, the gamer-to-racer program seemed to wither somewhat.

The first ever winner of GT Academy, Lucas Ordonez, has announced on social media that he is to leave the Nissan family.

It’s hard to believe, but a decade has now passed since Nissan, Sony, and Gran Turismo put a gamer on the path to becoming a pro racer.

Since he was crowned U.S. GT Academy champion back in 2013, it has been a busy five years for Nick McMillen.

Back in February, we told you about Nick McMillen’s quest to become a race drive. Now another GT Academy champion — and forum member — needs our help. However, this time it’s to help secure a sponsorship from Valvoline.

Many sim racers have the aspiration of someday making it to the pros. However, the world of professional racing is notoriously difficult to break into. But, for one member here on GTPlanet, the dream is just within his grasp.

Following an impressive showing in the Asian Le Mans Series, GT Academy finalist Edgar Lau is due to race at Le Mans next weekend.

ESPN has produced a special report on 2011 GT Academy champion Jann Mardenborough, which premiered during Sunday’s broadcast of SportsCenter. Even though most GTPlanet readers will be very familiar with Jann’s story, it’s a beautifully produced video that even his most ardent followers will learn something from, and you should definitely go watch it.

Cue the Darth Vader music: the gauntlet has been laid down! Ahead of the upcoming Bathurst 12H race, a confident Jann Mardenborough has challenged all Gran Turismo 6 players to beat his time on the famous Mount Panorama Circuit in Australia.

Endurance racing is a war of attrition. That was certainly the case for the GT Academy team at last weekend’s Dubai 24H race, as the #123 car was met with numerous setbacks en route to an eighth-place finish in-class.

The race is on for the GT Academy team in Dubai right now. With a little over 14 hours to go, the team has already experienced the highs and lows typical of an endurance event.

GT Academy Team RJN has confirmed it will be taking part in the upcoming 2017 Dubai 24 Hours event, which will be held at the Dubai Autodrome, UAE from January 12–14.

It’s been an arduous week, but it all came to a head earlier today at the 2016 GT Academy International Race Camp. With a two drivers from each region remaining, the last event would see all six teams battling it out on track in identically-prepped 370Z race cars. In the end, it would be Johnny Guindi Hamui, a student from Mexico, that would be crowned champion, but not without a fight.

It’s all been building to this. Today will see one person crowned the 2016 GT Academy International champion, beginning their path to becoming a race car driver as part of the Nissan Driver Development Program. Less than three months later, the winner will be making their competitive debut alongside Jann Mardenborough at the 2017 24 Hours of Dubai in January. You can watch it all unfold above, starting at 14:00 Silverstone time (click here to convert).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CXqYs0xOV6Q

Over the course of the past few months, the qualifying rounds of GT Academy 2016 have quietly taken place across the globe, as thousands of potential competitors took their best shots using a pre-release version of GT Sport. Six regions were earmarked for International Race Camp (Australia, Indonesia, Mexico, North Africa, Philippines, and Thailand), and after all the dust had settled, six finalists were selected from each to represent their team in Silverstone.