Sony announce GT Academy down under

Drivers wanted, no experience required.

4 December 2009, 12:18 pm

Dan Cheer

Dan was editor of Gameplanet NZ between 2008 to 2012. He now lives in snowy Toronto, Canada.

Sony Computer Entertainment New Zealand and Nissan New Zealand have joined forces to bring Kiwi gaming and motorsport fans a new racing competition.

GT Academy 2010 will go live on 17 December, 2009 and will use the virtual world of Gran Turismo 5 to find a real-world racing driver. A race training programme and a season-long drive in a full race-spec Nissan 370Z in the European GT4 Cup is the ultimate prize.

GT Academy 2010 is the second instalment for Europe, but it’s the first time Kiwis can take part in this competition. In 2008/09, Lucas Ordoñez, a 23-year-old Spanish student, graduated from his PS3 to become a full-on racing driver via the GT Academy. After a début in the Dubai International 24 Hour race alongside former F1 driver Johnny Herbert, Lucas teamed-up with British driver Alex Buncombe to campaign a Nissan 350Z. Driving for the RJN Motorsport GT Academy team, the pair took part in the full European GT4 Cup season, mostly run alongside the prestigious FIA GT series. Their performances included two race wins and two second-place finishes that left them an agonisingly close second in the drivers’ classification, but winners of the Teams’ Championship.

The competition this year falls into four main stages:

Stage One - will offer Gran Turismo fans a sneak preview of Gran Turismo 5, due for release during 2010. Competitors will record flying laps on a time trial-based track available via PlayStation Network, accessed through PS3. Unlike the first GT Academy, participants will not have to enter the competition using the GT5 Prologue game itself, and so even more hopeful racing drivers are expected to take part.
Stage Two – the holders of the twenty fastest online lap times from each participating country will qualify for their national final event where we will find the New Zealand representative to head to the Silverstone circuit in England for the GT Academy – a comprehensive five day race driver ‘boot camp’. They will battle each other on another exclusive Gran Turismo 5 level for the chance to move to the next phase of the competition.
Stage Three – twenty finalists, chosen from each of the international finals events, will be able to develop new driving skills in an array of Nissan, and other hardware, while also being judged on fitness and mental attitude at the Silverstone circuit GT Academy boot camp. All twenty drivers win or lose, will come out of the academy a fully licensed driver.
Stage Four - for the two competitors that display the talent, fitness, aptitude, drive and determination to succeed in motor sport, the action will heat-up even further. A UK-based intensive driving and racing programme will prepare them to qualify for an international racing license.
Stage Five – there is only one place available for the driver with the most potential to compete on an international stage. The overall GT Academy 2010 champion will race a full season in the European GT4 Cup in a Nissan 370Z prepared by RJN Motorsport. The opening race is currently scheduled for May, 2010.

The online section of the game will run from 17 December 2009 until 24 January 2010 with national finals following soon afterwards. The GT Academy itself takes place from 26 February until 3 March. The two winners will have to quickly clear their diaries, as their intensive training programme will start immediately and culminate in one driver racing in the opening European GT4 Cup race that could be at Silverstone on 2 May.

For further details, head over to the Gran Turismo NZ site