The hugely successful GT Academy is back with the qualifying stage now under way. An exclusive Gran Turismo 6 demo has been made available on the PlayStation network, allowing players to enter the contest from the comfort of their own couch.
The collaboration between Nissan and Sony Computer Entertainment has already produced several successful, professional racing drivers through GT Academy since its launch in 2008. Two previous contest winners, Lucas Ordonez and Jann Mardenborough, raced at this year's Le Mans 24 Hour race and posted an impressive fourth in class finish.
For the 2013 competition, the demo features a series of challenges at a GT Academy-themed driving school, featuring recreations of Nissan cars including the LEAF, 370Z and GT-R. The driving school then leads to a virtual Silverstone where entrants aim to set the fastest lap times. The fastest gamers will then head to the National Final events to compete both virtually and in real cars, before then moving on to the Race Camp at Silverstone where the winner will be crowned.
GT Academy 2013 has set its sights on being the biggest of its kind yet, reaching out to more countries than ever before. The European contest is being run in over 14 countries, while the USA, Russia and Germany each have their own standalone competitions.
"This is the most exciting entry mechanic to date for GT Academy and gives players an insight into some of the features that will be seen on Gran Turismo 6 later this year," comments Usama Al-Qassab, Vice President of Product Marketing at Sony Computer Entertainment Europe. "GT Academy is all about unearthing real racing talent and is open to everybody."
Open to everybody is right, as the competition even reaches out to those without the required PlayStation 3 and Sony Entertainment Network account via a series of GT Academy Live Events that are being promoted locally by Nissan and PlayStation. In addition, anyone who does download the demo and submits an entry into the competition will receive free bonus content for the upcoming Gran Turismo 6 game.
Anything else?
More details of how to enter GT Academy 2013 can be found on www.facebook.com/GTAcademy, http://eu.gran-turismo.com and www.twitter.com/GTAcademy.