- Six Australian finalists selected to compete for Nissan factory racing contract
- Finalists heading over to the UK in October to compete against other countries to fight for the ultimate prize
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GOLD COAST, Australia – The Australian finalists of the Nissan PlayStation GT Academy have been decided, following a gruelling two-day competition concluding at Warner Bros. Movie World over the weekend.
The national final saw the country's top six gamers qualify for the chance to battle it out at the GT Academy International final in the United Kingdom, with a Nissan racing contract being offered to the overall winner.
The initial 20 Australian finalists were put through a series of challenges including an army-style fitness test, vigorous gaming challenges on the GT Sport PlayStation game, media tests, and a motorkhana component behind the wheel of a Nissan 370Z. With points awarded across all challenges, the competition was whittled down to the Top 6.
The six winners are 27-year-old Chris McIvor, 21-year-old Michael Pryor, 22-year-old Oscar Redfearn, 23-year-old Bradley Packham, 33-year-old Steve Danielsen, and 29-year-old Keishi Ayikai.
The virtual racers now head to the GT Academy International 'Race Camp' commencing on the 18th October at the Silverstone Circuit. The eight-day event will push the gamers beyond anything they experienced over the weekend, as GT Academy's Daniel Whittemore explained:
"The next step is mostly based out of Silverstone circuit, where we test them on activities similar to that at the national final," said Whittemore.
"They are the skills that make up a racing driver: communication, emotional intelligence, how they conduct themselves, and how they can control their emotions under pressure. The big emphasis will be on driving challenging, looking at real world skills. They'll be driving at Silverstone circuit, amongst others across the UK. They'll also be going over some pretty tough fitness exercises, where we'll see who has the winning determination to battle all the odds to become the GT Academy Champion."
Whittmore's advice to the six finalists was plain and simple – find an edge.
"There are going to be 30 other guys coming from all over the world, and they want to win GT Academy as much as the guys from Australia," he said.
"So you've got to give yourself a competitive advantage wherever you can. So start to sharpen up on those skills."
Nissan Motorsport's Dale Wood and Todd Kelly were both on hand to mentor the finalists across the two days. Kelly considers GT Academy an unusual path into motorsport, he concedes that after eight years the gamer-to-racer program's results speak for themselves.
"I'm a bit old fashioned with everything technical in computers, whether it be social media or PlayStation," said Kelly.
"I probably was sceptical, but have been proven wrong pretty quickly. To see some of the guys we've had in our cars at Winton that have come through the program has blown me away.
The mentoring that both real-world racers provided proved invaluable, as all 20 competitors were pushed to their limits.
"It's good to be in a position to help these guys extract the most amount of talent they have to offer," said Kelly.
"Whether it be by just telling them to be calm or relax, or whatever it might be, to make sure they get the most out of the opportunity."
One of the six finalists to qualify for the International final is Steve Danielsen. The 33-year-old musical theatre performer will now head to international race camp representing Australian with the aim on winning the ultimate prize.
"It's pretty hard to put into words, it's pretty overwhelming," said Danielsen.
"So far it's been an amazing prize to come to the Gold Coast to compete in the GT Academy 2016 finals. But now I get to head to England to compete in the International race-camp in October, which is just blowing my mind."
"It's a dream come true. This whole program, being able to provide people like me who might not have had the opportunity to become a race driver, this is giving us a chance to do that. So it's just amazing."
2016 Nissan PlayStation GT Academy Australian finalists
- Chris McIvor, 27
- Michael Pryor, 21
- Oscar Redfearn, 22
- Bradley Packham, 23
- Steve Danielsen, 33
- Keishi Ayikai, 29
About Nissan PlayStation GT Academy
GT Academy is a collaboration between Nissan and PlayStation that uses the virtual world of Gran Turismo to unearth real-world racing talent. Now in its eighth year, GT Academy is one competition open to permanent residents of the following territories; Australia, Indonesia, Mexico, North Africa (Algeria, Egypt & Morocco), Philippines and Thailand.
Qualification for GT Academy is through live events hosted on a number of dates at locations across the six participating territories, detailed above. At a live event entrants set their best time on PlayStation 4 running Gran Turismo Sport. The fastest 20 entrants progress to a territory final where they are scored in gaming, fitness, communication and driving activities. The top six scorers from each final join competitors from other territories at the legendary Race Camp, held at Silverstone Circuit, UK. During Race Camp judges look for those who have the attributes required to race atn International level. Once an overall winner has been selected, they go on to complete a comprehensive driver development programme that includes racing in the UK to qualify for an International race licence so that they can compete in a prestigious 24H Endurance Race for Nissan.
Previous winners of GT Academy have gone on to win in the real world at the highest level; Jann Mardenborough is a race winner in GP3, Lucas Ordonez became the Blancpain Endurance Series Pro-Am champion in 2013, Wolfgang Reip is the 2015 Blancpain Endurance Series Pro Champion also winning the Bathurst 12H with Florian Strauss in 2015.
News and views on GT Academy 2016 and the progress of all the GT Academy drivers can be followed on the following platforms:
- www.facebook.com/GTAcademy
- www.twitter.com/GTAcademy
- www.youtube.com/gtacademyeurope
- www.flickr.com/photos/gtacademyeurope
- www.instagram.com/gtacademy
About Nissan Motor Co.
Nissan Motor Co., Ltd., Japan's second-largest automotive company, is headquartered in Yokohama, Japan, and is part of the Renault-Nissan Alliance. Operating with more than 244,500 employees globally, Nissan sold 5.32 million vehicles and generated revenue of 11.38 trillion yen (USD 103.6 billion) in fiscal 2014. Nissan delivers a comprehensive range of more than 60 models under the Nissan, Infiniti and Datsun brands. Nissan leads the world in zero-emission mobility, dominated by sales of the LEAF, the first mass-market, pure-electric vehicle. It is the best-selling EV in history with almost 50% share of the zero-emission vehicle segment.
For more information on our products, services and commitment to sustainable mobility, visit our website at http://www.nissan-global.com/EN
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