Good afternoon, Gran Turismo fans.

I am very pleased today to confirm further details of the very special competition that was included exclusively in the Signature Edition version of Gran Turismo 5.

So to have a chance to win your very own gull-winged, Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG, €180,000, 6.2litre supercar, here’s what you need to know.

The first phase of the Signature Edition competition will be open from 09.00 GMT Monday 27th December 2010 and will be open until 23.59 GMT Monday 31st January 2011.

From the 27th December, there are a few steps that you must follow to enter the competition, these are as follows;

Step 1: Redeem the PSN Voucher Code

Sign-in to your PSN Account, go to PlayStation Store and redeem the competition PSN voucher code found in the leather wallet of the Signature Edition.

Prior to redeeming the voucher code, ensure that your PSN account details are up to date and correct.

If your country of residence has changed since you created your PSN account, then you must update your address information on PSN prior to registration on gran-turismo.com, or alternatively create a new PSN account using the correct country of residence.

Your country of residence must of course be one of those within the eligible markets for the Signature Edition competition.

Step 2: Register on gran-turismo.com

Go to the website www.gran-turismo.com accept the Terms and Conditions, sign-in to your PSN Account and fill in the registration form.

Step 3: The Signature Edition Challenge

Boot up your copy of Gran Turismo 5, sign-in to your PSN Account and get yourself on the Signature Edition Challenge which will be accessible from the Seasonal Events section within the game.

Full terms and conditions will be available on gran-turismo.com from 27 December 2010.

One other thing – it’s also essential to make sure that you have downloaded all of the latest functionality updates to Gran Turismo 5.

During the competition period you will have the chance to test your skills in 5 races across 5 courses within the B-Spec mode of GT5.

All of the eligible markets for the competition have been placed in regional groups. Please refer to the competition terms and conditions at time of entry to establish which region you fall within.

At the end of the competition period entrant(s) with the fastest composite time over the five courses within each regional group will win a place in phase two of the competition at the Mercedes-Benz driving event.

There is no limit to the number of times that you can attempt each of the five races to improve your best time. Leaderboards will be viewable during the duration of the competition on gran-turismo.com.

The special Mercedes-Benz driving event that is phase two of the competition is due to take place in Spring 2011.

Over the course of two days you will be put through your paces in a real-life AMG vehicles and eventually, whoever has the smarts and the skills will emerge with the keys to one of the finest supercars in a generation.

So, after the excesses of the next weekend to come, make sure you keep a note of where that Signature Edition entry card is – it could well be the ticket that makes 2011 a very happy new year!

Keep an eye on gran-turismo.com and the PlayStation Blog for more Gran Turismo news.