GT Academy 2012 National Finals Conclude as Silverstone Boot Camps Begin

The second phase of GT Academy 2012 is now complete, with no less than a dozen national finals taking place across Europe and in the United States.

The final stage of the competition is now beginning, with each separate GT Academy competition’s final “Boot Camp” (U.S., EU, Germany, and Russia) taking place this month at Silverstone.

You’ll find quick review of how things went down in each region below; most of the finalists are GTPlanet community members, so be sure to stop by our GT Academy 2012 forum to personally wish them good luck.

Congratulations to everyone remaining in the competition!

Austria (EU Region)

Austria’s GT Academy 2012 finals took place in the ÖAMTC center in Teesdorf, near Vienna. At the end of the two-day event, the country’s top 32 players were narrowed down to just two, after a series of time trials, physical challenges, and media interviews.

Christoph Stingeder from Lower Austria and Matthias Reisner from Styria were eventually selected by a panel of judges to represent their country at Silverstone. Check out the full report for more photos and details from the event.

Belgium, the Netherlands, and Luxembourg (EU Region)

The BeNeLux Finals were held at the Zolder Circuit, where Frank van Gasteren (Djie), Enrico Mele (GTP_CICO), and Hani Al Sabti (HF_NOS) were selected to represent their countries at Silverstone.

Watch video from the event here on YouTube, and see more pictures and coverage of the event on GTHQ.nl and Facebook.

France (EU Region)

2010 GT Academy winner Jordan Tresson was on hand for his home country’s event, held at the Circuit de Mornay, where the finalists’ real-world car control skills were tested in GT-liveried Nissan Micras. Six contestants: Sébastien Bertrand, Anthony Duval, Pierre Lenoir, Steven Gassiot, Quentin Ventura, and Kevin Bartsch will all be representing their country at Silverstone.

Check out a comprehensive write-up and more photos here.

Germany (Independent Region)

Like the United States and Russia, Germany is also an independent GT Academy region for 2012, and will claim its own overall champion this year. The German Boot Camp is already underway this week at Silverstone; stay tuned for more pictures and results from their event soon.

For more details and pictures from the event, hosted at the Nurburgring, check out the full report on Facebook.

Italy (EU Region)

Italian F1 driver Vitantonio Liuzzi was in attendance at his country’s GT Academy finals, held in Rome. Six finalists will be moving forward to Silverstone: Darian Rojnic, Matteo Masiera, Andrea Cosaro, Andrea Fasulo, Moreno Coveri, and Francesco Besso.

Check out more pictures from the event here on Facebook.

Poland (EU Region)

Winners Tomasz Bogusławski (Gusbo) and Krystian Korzeniowski known as (KrisNBRone) were selected to represent their country at Silverstone after a high-profile national finals which featured Lucas Ordonez and an indoor autocross course with a Nissan 370Z.

See more photos and videos from the event here in our forums and on Facebook.

Portugal (EU Region)

The Portuguese finals saw an interesting twist, with over sixteen “wildcard” drivers competing with the top qualifiers for the three available spots in the finals. Raul Pereira, Diogo Sousa, and Hugo Araújo were eventually selected as the winners.

Check out this blog post for more details.

Russia (Independent Region)

As an independent region, sixteen Russian players were selected at their national finals, one of whom will be selected as the overall winner from the country and will become a 2012 GT Academy champion.

2011 European winner Jann Mardenborough was in attendance for the event, held in central Moscow, with the Kremlin itself as part of the event’s backdrop. For more, check out these photos and videos from the event.

Spain (EU Region)

As the only national final that Kazunori Yamauchi himself attended, Spain’s national finals in Barcelona was one of the largest events in Europe. Jesús Sicilia, Daniel Herrera, and Luis Muñoz were eventually selected to represent their country at Silverstone.

See our full post about the event for more details and videos.

Switzerland (EU Region)

Guillaume and Rolf were the two drivers from Switzerland moved forward in the competition. See PlayStation Switzerland’s photo gallery for more coverage of the event.

United Kingdom & Ireland (EU Region)

As one of the regions where Gran Turismo enjoys its highest popularity, the UK and Republic of Ireland finals were a highly competitive event, with six players moving forward in the competition. GTPlanet editor Famine was on hand, and shared his full write-up of the event here on the blog just a few weeks ago.

United States of America (Independent Region)

Hosting only its second independent GT Academy competition, the U.S. 2012 finals were also among the largest in the world.

GTPlanet teamed up with IGN Pro League to offer live streaming coverage of the event earlier last month, all of which is archived and available to watch here.

The U.S. Silverstone boot camp will  be broadcast as a reality TV show this November on Spike TV.

See more articles on GT Academy 2012.