Racing drivers wanted: Nissan PH announces 2nd season of GT Academy

By Alvin Uy July 10,2016

Left NPI president and managing director Ramesh Narashimhan and 2008 Nissan GTA champion Lucas Ordonez

Left NPI president and managing director Ramesh Narashimhan and 2008 Nissan GTA champion Lucas Ordonez

NISSAN Philippines recently launched the second season of its highly successful Nissan GT (for Gran Turismo) Academy Philippines at the SM Mall of Asia’s Atrium Hall. The Nissan GT Academy (GTA) is Nissan Philippines’ (NPI) initiative to encourage Filipino gamers to try out and compete for a slot to represent the country at Nissan GTA’s Race Camp Week in historic Silverstone Circuit in UK.

The Nissan GTA is a virtual-to-reality racing competition where gamers who qualify will be given a slot to train in the race camp and become a real professional race car driver. 

What’s different from this year’s competition is the new Sony PlayStation 4 exclusive Gran Turismo Sport and will be made available for the first time in Nissan GTA, ahead of its official release in November this year.

Nissan partnered with Polyphony Digital to introduce the upgraded racing video game for the Philippines and other participating countries.

nissan-gta-2Last year, some 13,000 gamers tried out for the first Nissan GTA in a series of events carried out nationwide. From malls to car shows, Nissan Philippines was able to bring around the country the racing console modules for everyone to qualify for best time.

Ultimately, six Filipino representatives were chosen to represent the Philippine team at Race Camp Week in Silverstone Circuit. One of the team members, Joward Policarpio, was crowned grand winner and was the first Filipino Nissan GT Academy Asian champion.

“Through this virtual-to-reality racing competition, we look forward to giving more opportunities for Filipino gamers to realize their dream of becoming professional racecar drivers,” said NPI president and managing director Ramesh Narashimhan.

During the launch, NPI also flew in Lucas Ordoñez, the winner of the first Nissan Playstation GT Academy in 2008. Ordoñez bagged the award in Europe and since 2008, he has moved on to become an accomplished racecar driver thanks to the program.

nissan-gta-3While studying for his MBA back in 2008, Ordoñez joined the Nissan GTA and saw that the academy was his last shot for his dream of becoming a racing driver. Among his career highlights include racing for the Blancpain GT Series Endurance Cup last year, and wining in the 2014 SP2 class at the Dubai 24 Hours, 2013 Blancpain Endurance Series Pro-Am Driver’s championship and the Intercontinental Le Mans Cup LM P2 just to name a few.

“Last year, the Philippine team competed against other racers in other countries and came out on top. Continuing the competition’s success, we open season 2 with Lucas Ordoñez in hopes of motivating the best Filipino talents to enter the competition, and make the country the breeding ground for outstanding racing drivers,’ added Narasimhan.

Ordoñez recalls, “Back then, I was just studying for my MBA. When I saw an ad for a new competition called GT Academy, I knew I had to join and take this shot to be the racing driver I dreamed to be. Now, here I am racing on every possible tournament. It felt great to have taken that move. I hope Filipinos will grab this opportunity too.”

Its top 20 qualifiers of the try-outs during the nationwide series of its recruitment campaign from June 30 to Aug. 21 will have to fight it out for the national finals which will happen from Sept. 20 to 26, of which the top six players will be selected to represent the country for the Race Camp Week in Silverstone Racing Circuit from Oct. 21 to 30.

The team will have to undergo a grueling training camp that not only involves honing their racing skills but also training and testing to the limits their physical strength, stamina and mental agility.

The emerging champion will sign up to undergo a more rigorous training program to become a professional racecar driver and acquire a slot in the Nissan team for the Dubai 24 Hour race.

For more information on how to join the Nissan GT Academy, visit www.nissan.ph/gtacademy and www.facebook.com/NissanPhilippinesInc.

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