Green Light for 2014 Nissan Playstation GT Academy in Middle East

Nissan and Sony Computer Entertainment have today announced that online qualifying for the much anticipated 2014 Nissan PlayStation GT Academy is now open in the Middle East. In addition, 10 live qualification events for the gamer-to-real-racer competition will be held across seven countries in the region between the 25^th of April and the 31^st of May. Following the live qualification rounds, the 14 aspiring race drivers with the fastest times will be selected for the regional finals to be held in Dubai, UAE, alongside 14 qualifiers from the online competition.   

Online qualifying on PlayStation’s Gran Turismo 6 game is now open. Anyone in a participating country with Gran Turismo 6 and a PlayStation 3 will be able to enter the free qualifying rounds within the game’s automatic online update for more details please visit www.gran-turismo.com/gb/academy/2014/.

NISMO’s Global Head of Brand Marketing and Sales, Darren Cox, commented: “Nissan and NISMO are proud to launch this year’s GT Academy with our friends at PlayStation^® and Polyphony Digital. Six years ago this innovative approach was seen as a risk, but it is now a firmly established route to professional motorsport. GT Academy started in Europe but is now expanding globally with new editions being launched in several emerging markets. We are looking forward to discovering even more new stars in 2014. Anyone who thinks they have what it takes should give GT Academy a go. Not everyone can win, but the experience is hugely rewarding at every stage of the competition.”

Samir Cherfan, Managing Director, Nissan Middle East, said: “GT Academy Middle East’s first season produced the excitement Nissan as a brand has committed to delivering in the region. Thousands took part in both the live events and online qualification and we anticipate this number will rise dramatically this year. Salman Al Khater has been a true role model for others to follow and we look forward to a new champion sharing in his life-changing experience later this year.”

Robert Fisser, General Manager of PlayStation, Middle East, Turkey, Africa and India, said: “We are proud to bring back GT Academy to the Middle East in 2014 and work with Nissan Middle East on making the Academy even bigger and better. Together we are working very closely to deliver the most anticipated racing experience of the year. Get ready PlayStation gamers, as the spirit of racing competition returns on Gran Turismo ^®6. Right in your home, start up your PlayStation 3 and show the world how a Gran Turismo^® gamer can turn to a real life racer! Salman Al Khater, the first GT Academy Champion in the Middle East, has deeply impressed us with his skills which he acquired racing throughout the GT series, all the way back to the first GT game on PlayStation One. Salman’s success story proves that gamers in our region can become real life racers! So let the best player win.”

Salman Al Khater, inaugural champion of GT Academy Middle East, said: “As I was growing up, I always loved Gran Turismo^® – I had no idea it would one day allow me to fulfil my dream and become a professional racing driver. GT Academy in the Middle East has completely changed my life and offered me a unique experience. If you ever had a dream to become a racing driver, you must take part in GT Academy Middle East 2014.”

The GT Academy competition has attracted nearly four million entries globally since its inception in 2008, with gamers and motor sport fans battling it out for the chance to become the next NISMO Athlete, one of the elite racing drivers competing for Nissan under the banner of its motor sport arm, NISMO. The Middle East’s first star, Salman Al Khater, once again proved GT Academy could turn virtual racers into real world racing drivers with a win in his first competitive race at the Silverstone 1000k’s in September 2013.

Further proof of the success of the virtual-to-reality competition can be seen in the stunning on-track results of its other graduates. Briton Jann Mardenborough, a Le Mans 24-hour podium finisher, will compete in Formula One™ feeder series GP3 in 2014. His meteoric rise since winning GT Academy in 2011 sees him racing for Arden International while also undertaking a Red Bull Racing Driver Development Programme.

Meanwhile, inaugural-winner, Spaniard Lucas Ordoñez takes his talents to Japan in 2014 to race for NISMO in the competitive Super GT Championship. Lucas and 2012 GT Academy champion Wolfgang Reip (Belgium) will also contest this summer’s Le Mans 24 Hour race in Nissan’s fascinating ZEOD RC ‘Garage 56’ entry.