GT Academy to kick off on June 2
Posted on May 27th, 2008 at 11:57 EDT
Sony Computer Entertainment announced today that GT Academy is scheduled to go live in Gran Turismo 5: Prologue on June 2, affording European gamers the chance to drive an authentic Nissan 350Z at the 24 Hour endurance event in Dubai in January 2009.
The first stage in a seven-week tournament, gamers will be required to submit their PSN ID to
www.gtacademy.eu, granting you access to the GT Academy Time Trial in Prologue. Your objective is simple: set the fastest time around the Eiger Nordwand in a Nissan Fairlady 350Z.
Stage two of the competition begins in July, where the top 20 fastest gamers will be called to compete against each other in GT5: Prologue in a national final. From here, the three fastest from each final will advance to the GT Academy at Silverstone on August 25.
Here, finalists will hop inside a real Nissan GT-R, where their driving, physical and mental skills will be scrutinized and put to the test. The two fastest racers will then be submitted into a four-month training programme in order to claim their racing licence, allowing them to compete in Dubai in January 2009.
"This is a very exciting day for Gran Turismo. The Gran Turismo story started 10 years ago with the ambition to make a racing game that gives players the ultimate driving simulation experience. The GT Academy is the ultimate realisation of this ambition taking the Gran Turismo experience to the next level,” commented Polyphony Digital’s Kazunori Yamauch.