[spacedogg]

"The story began last year, when Sony Playstation, Gran Turismo and Nissan created the GT Academy: a pan-European quest to find the best virtual racers in Europe and then to turn the most promising pair into real racing drivers. Some 25,000 hopefuls took part in the online stage of the contest, each attempting to qualify for their national final by setting the best time around GT5: Prologue's Eiger Norwand course.

...




The very best 'drivers' from each national final were subsequently gathered together at Silverstone for an intensive assessment week led by experienced racer Rob Barff.

...

Using what amounted to trackday-spec 350Zs, both Lars and Lucas [the finalists] were then fast-tracked through a gruelling succession of races by Nissan Europe's official team, RJN Motorsport. In the process each gained priceless experience to prepare them for the challenge of Dubai [24 hour endurance race], and also obtained sufficient signatures to qualify them for their all-important International C race licences."



http://magazines.drivers-republic.co...nightfever039/

Wow!!! What a dream that would be to do that!!!

[rcracer_tx]

That's an awesome concept. It's cool to see companies giving opportunities like this...

[TSM330i]

I read the entire article. Very well done. It's a shame they ran into problems, but that's racing (especially in endurance racing).

It seems very similar to Lewis Hamilton. He did his driving in carts and video games, but Ron Dennis had him pegged years ago as a potential for F1. I believe McLaren even paid for much of his development if I'm not mistaken.

[Year's_End]

Originally Posted by AW325xi

I read the entire article. Very well done. It's a shame they ran into problems, but that's racing (especially in endurance racing).

It seems very similar to Lewis Hamilton. He did his driving in carts and video games, but Ron Dennis had him pegged years ago as a potential for F1. I believe McLaren even paid for much of his development if I'm not mistaken.

Well Hamilton actually gained fame through carting, not really video games. I've got his autobiography, it's worth reading.

[Crimson92]

i read about this a while back...i wish i was that good