Nissan Begins GT Academy 2012 with New Version of Gran Turismo

Nissan is starting its fouth year of the GT Academy program. GT Academy 2012 started on May 1 and is available as a separate, free download from the Playstation Network. Winning drivers from each region will be sent to Silverstone in the UK for a racing camp and a driver development program. 

This year there is a new eight-step driver qualification program designed by Gran Turismo creator and amatuer racer Kazunori Yamauchi. For eight weeks, the drivers are put through a variety tests like cornering, wet laps and driving a rear-wheel vehicle. However, Yamauchi says that the software is not purely Gran Turismo 5. 

"This time around, we've designed a GT Academy qualification format as part of the Gran Turismo series on an unprecedented scale and aimed towards a wide variety of players. This title may be free, but it is a truly independent piece of work and marks a place for itself along our path from GT5 to GT6," said Yamauchi.

The cars in the test include 370ZNissan 370ZJapan, 2008 > 201226 versions
77 photos
1 video
, GT-RNissan GT-RJapan, 2008 > present11 photos
1 video
, Leaf GNissan LEAFJapan, 2009 > present29 versions
45 photos
1 video
, Silvia Spec-R AeroNissan Silvia spec-RJapan, 1999 > present1 photo
, R34 GT-R Spec-VNissan Skyline GT-R R34Japan, 1999 > 20022 photos
and R32 GT-R VüEspec IINissan Skyline GT-RJapan, 1989 > 19942 photos
. 

Previous winners Lucas Ordoñez, Jordan Tresson, Jann Mardenborough and Bryan Heitkotter have been quite successful in motor racing. Ordoñez competed in the 24 Hours of Le Mans last year, and all of the drivers competed together in the 24 Hours of Dubai in 2012. 

Anyone 18 or over with a driver's license can enter the competition. It runs from May 1 to June 25. The fastest 16 players in each territory will move to the National Final event where drivers begin to drive rear cars. Six winners will then be selected from each territory and go to the race camp at Silverstone. The best drivers from there will join driver development programs with Nissan and race a 370Z GT4 in the 24 Hours of Dubai in 2013.