Getting the chance to jump from the virtual world of Gran Turismo into the real life, adrenaline-pumping machine is something that seems too good to be true, but such miracle has been happening with the GT Academy done together by Nissan and Sony. Since 2008, it has been the global phenomenon where contestants from all over the world put their skills to the test for a shot to actually become a professional racing driver.
And when we mean professional, the winner actually gets the golden opportunity to compete in a world-class stage, like how the winner of the first GT Academy, Lucas Ordonez was given the opportunity to compete in various races in Nissan race cars. And this includes the 2012 Nurburgring 24 Hours where he made it onto the podium.
And with the outstanding response received for GT Academy, there were four separate divisions running back in 2012; the European, U.S., Germany and Russia. The winners from each of these academies will be sent straight to the battlefield as they will be competing at the 2013 Dubai 24 Hours Endurance race taking place this January 10-12.
The latest winner from GT Academy USA, Steve Doherty will be pairing up with GT Academy Germany winner Peter Pyzera. GT Academy Europe’s winner Wolfgang Reip from Belgium on the other hand will race alongside with GT Academy Russia winner Mark Shulzhitskiy. Each pair will be racing in a Nissan 370Z Nismo GT4 race car. They will also be paired with some experienced drivers like Lucas Ordonez, Sabine Schmitz, GT Academy mentor Alex Buncombe and Nissan endurance racing driver Roman Rusinov.
But before actually entering the race, the four newcomers were already exposed to a comprehensive driver development program to expose them with every possible element in racing and the necessary skills. They had also competed in a number of races in the UK to qualify for an international race license and preparing them to shine in Dubai later on.
