The worlds of virtual and reality made an incredible overlap this weekend as four Gran Turismo players finished 2nd place in class and 5th overall at the Dubai 24 Hours Race – their prize for winning the 2014 NISMO PlayStation GT Academy.

Having bested hundreds of thousands of PlayStation gamers before proving their potential on the track, GT Academy winners further verified the gamer-to-racer competition by competing in the quickest Pro-Am category of the race and finishing 5th out of a record 95 experienced racing drivers.

Driving the final stint in car #23 was GT Academy 2013 Germany winner Florian Strauss, who finished the race only one place behind Robb Barff, renowned GT Academy veteran who coached each of today’s drivers in their journey to success.

Video highlights of the race can be enjoyed at www.NISMO.TV and for photos head to Flickr. You can also keep updated on GT Academy and the success of competition winners via Facebook and Twitter.