GT Academy 2010 ‘Final Two’ Complete Another Successful Weekend of Racing
:: Luca Lorenzini & Jordan Tresson gain 10 of the 12 signatures required to qualify for their International C Race Licence ::
:: With so little between them, team boss calls for a final showdown test to decide between them ::
Rockingham – Sunday 10 April, 2010 – Luca Lorenzini and Jordan Tresson were back on track this weekend in their gruelling bid to qualify for an International C Race Licence. The pair are locked in a battle to claim the ultimate prize in PlayStation® and Nissan’s GT Academy 2010 competition. With a season-long drive in a 420bhp Nissan 370Z GT4 car competing in the European GT4 Cup at stake, both drivers performed admirably in three Dunlop Maxx Cup races at Rockingham. Frenchman Tresson took second place out of 15 starters in the first race on Saturday, while Italian Lorenzini finished just behind in third. Sunday proved to be the Italian’s day as he completed both races in second with his team-mate and rival following him home in third in both races.
In an intensive period of racing, that sees the PlayStation Nissan Team compete in seven race meetings across the UK in six weeks, the Gran Turismo® gamers turned racers have been evenly matched. The pair now have two race meetings left at Snetterton on Saturday and Mallory Park on Sunday to secure the final two ‘signatures’ that will qualify for them for an International C licence and the chance to line up for the opening race of the European GT4 Cup at Silverstone on 2 May. The professionalism of both drivers, who have won through from the 1.2 million gamers that entered the competition, is not helping RJN Motorsport team boss Bob Neville with his decision.
“Another weekend, some more very good drives and another two signatures, so ‘job done’”, explains Neville. “It is great that we are on-track to complete our task next weekend, but I am certainly no closer to making a decision on which driver is showing the most promise to win the competition and drive a full season.
“We have now been given the opportunity to test the full race-spec 370Z GT4 car on the new Grand Prix circuit at Silverstone on 21 April. I think that this test is going to have to be when and how we make our final decision on which driver will progress.
“The weekend at Rockingham was good. Due to a prior commitment we only had one of the 370Z cars available for Luca and Jordan and so had to bring last year’s 350Z back into service. We tossed a coin for who would drive it and Luca decided to give it a go to increase his experience of driving different cars. The 350 was homologated with racing brakes last year and so he probably ended up with a slight advantage over Jordan and he drove well for his two second places. Jordan had a couple of bad starts that meant he had to work his way up from sixth to third and I was impressed with his overtaking. Unfortunately, last year’s Championship-winning car was just too quick for either driver to challenge and he took the three wins.”
“In the end it was a great weekend with some good racing,” said Luca Lorenzini. “I enjoyed having the chance to drive the 350Z just for the different experience and it is still a very competitive car. We are coming to the end of the training period now so, for sure, there is a little more pressure. But I feel very happy with what I have done. It has certainly been a great experience. Jordan and I get on very well, which is lucky! I am not a great cook, so I have had to leave most of the cooking to him and I am the sous-chef!”
“It was an interesting track and good fun to have some battles on track,” added Jordan Tresson. “I learnt a lot from this weekend in terms of being in traffic and passing the other cars. I’m looking forward to Snetterton this weekend as we have driven there before so we do not have to learn the track. Luca and I will also be in the same car and driving a 45 minute stint each, which will be longest we will have done in any of these races. Every time we go out we are learning something different so it has been a fantastic opportunity. Life in Oxfordshire has been good. We go to help out at the workshop as much as we can and so haven’t done much sightseeing.”
The pair compete together at Snetterton on Saturday in the Britcar Production endurance race. On Sunday they move to Mallory Park in the hope of gaining the 12th signature and that all-important international licence.
