The teams at Sony Computer Entertainment Australia and the Nissan Motor Company Australia have recently announced that , following the launch of Gran Turismo 6, that they will be bringing the GT Academy program to Australian shores during 2014. Citing high demand from fans in the country, the nation’s virtual racers will get the opportunity to turn their love for digital car racing into a real life experience by participating in the virtual-to-reality competition.

To earn their grid position, racing driver hopefuls are asked to demonstrate their skill and determination to keep their name at the top of the Gran Turismo6 leader board. The top gamers will be invited to compete at a live National Final event, where the best competitors will then be selected and sent to the International finals, hosted at Silverstone Circuit in the United Kingdom, to represent Australia.

The winner of the International final will get the chance to become a professional race driver, as they’re put through an intensive Driver Development Programme to ready them for the chance to compete for Nissan at the Dubai 24 Hours.

Starting the journey from virtual to reality is simple on paper but tough in reality. The nation’s top 14 Gran Turismo gamers will be identified via recording a series of online time trials using pre-selected digital Nissan vehicles available only through PS3 exclusive, Gran Turismo 6. An additional 14 gamers will be selected from live events to be held at V8 Supercars Championship events and other public events around Australia. The collective 28 will participate in a National Final event where they will battle in special racing pods during a series of Gran Turismo 6 rounds, driving skill challenges in a real Nissan sports-car, a fitness challenge and a media test.

The top six performers from these National Finals are then invited to take part in the Final Selection Round – an intense Race Camp competition held at the Silverstone Circuit. The Australian finalists will compete against 24 international hopefuls, getting the opportunity to compete in on-track evaluations, driving some of Nissan’s road and race cars.

Peter Jones | Managing Director and CEO of Nissan Motor Company Australia

Innovation and excitement sit at the heart of Nissan and GT Academy is a perfect example of this in action. This ground-breaking talent search program has been hugely successful overseas. Now that it’s in Australia I can’t wait for it to unearth and develop our country’s next great motor racing star.

Michael Ephraim | Managing Director of Sony Computer Entertainment Australia

The GT franchise continues to be extremely important to PlayStation, and we are proud of our close partnership with Nissan. GT Academy is an exceptional programme and we look forward to following the journey of the fastest Aussie GT gamers as they transfer their skills to the real-world!