First Nissan GT Academy Edition concludes in India

Nissan’s Gran Turismo Academy concluded the Indian leg of its first edition in Jaipur today, selecting the top six contestants who came up on top over a series of challenges. Nissan’s GT Academy is a unique way of finding motorsport talent by spotting gamers through the popular Gran Turismo racing simulator game on the Sony Playstation gaming platform.

The top six contastants are – Abhinaya Bikkani, Prakash Nair, Akshay Gupta, Glen Ivan Suchitha, Karl Patel and Abhinaya Bhatt. Coming from varied backgrounds, these six are a mixed lot of youth and experience with Karl Patel being the youngest at 19 years and Prakash Nair at 41 years was the oldest to qualify. These participants were not only quick at gaming in the simulator but also excelled over the others at fitness and on a short driving course held over the Finals. 

The final challenge started with the top 28 contestants picked out of 5,000 participants over the past few months. They went through a process of elimination, first to the top 18 and then top 12 by setting lap times at Silverstone and Monaco Grand Prix Circuits in the simulator. The top 12 finally got behind the wheel of a Nissan Micra Active petrol over a short course where they could put their learning of motorsport to the real world.  

Finally the top 12 participants went through a series of fitness tests and the top six all-rounders were selected to go to Silverstone, UK for further eliminations that will take place in a few weeks. Each of the top-six will get a chance to train at the Silverstone Grand Prix Circuit in Nismo-tuned Nissan 370Zs and GT-Rs. This will be their first attempt at the real world of racing, stepping out of the virtual environment that has got them this far. 

The Nissan GT Academy will train these six in Endurance racing with the top six contestants from countries like Thailand, Australia and the Middle East to pick the best among the lot. The winner among this elite group will move on to the three-month long driver development programme. Over the course of these three months, the selected driver will learn the necessary skills to compete in an International 'graduation race'. A professional career in racing isn't too far away once the driver reaches this stage.