Nissan is hosting the second season of its GT Academy competition in India to search for racing drivers from the virtual world of the Gran Turismo 6 video game. The competition will take place in four Indian cities between June and July 2015. Gamers will compete online and at live events for the chance to attend the national final and potentially a racing camp at Silverstone. The winner could receive professional racing driver training and opportunities with Nissan. Past GT Academy winners have found success competing for Nissan in prestigious races like Le Mans 24 Hours.

1. Press Release
For Immediate Publication
NISSAN SCOUTING FOR RACING DRIVER IN INDIA
• Nissan PlayStation® GT Academy enters second season in India
• Live events to be hosted in 4 Indian cities – Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore &
Chennai
• GT Academy Asia competition introduced in 2015 with reach to 2.2 billion
hopefuls
• Previous GT Academy winners competing in Le Mans 24 hour LMP1 class
for Nissan
DELHI (India), June 04 2015: Nissan and PlayStation will once again be searching the
virtual world of Gran Turismo 6, for a real world racing driver. The revolutionary GT
Academy prepares for its biggest year yet and once again offers gamers the chance to
live the dream as a NISMO Athlete.
GT Academy India Live Qualifying will begin on June 5th
2015 in Delhi and will proceed
to Mumbai, Bangalore and Chennai as per the following schedule:
City Dates Venue
Delhi 5th
– 7th
June DLF Place, Saket
Mumbai 12th
- 14th
June Infinity 2, Malad (West)
Bangalore 19th
– 21st
June Phoenix Market City,
Whitefield
Chennai 26th
– 28th
June Express Avenue, Royapettah
GT Academy Online Final Qualification round commenced on 2nd
June 2015 and
concludes on the 16th
June on Gran Turismo 6 for PlayStation 3. Online gamers will have
an opportunity to drive the Nissan GT-R LM Nismo as a part of qualifying. Ten winners
from the Live Events will then join ten winners from the online game at the Indian
National Final to be held in July 2015, with the chance to grab one of six places at the
famous Silverstone Race Camp.
Last year over 5000 gamers from all over India competed against each other in the race
to the GT Academy final race camp. Six fastest contestants from the National Final in
India then made it to Silverstone to compete with the winners from other regions.
Abhinay Bikkani, one of the finalists from India last year, is currently racing in the
Nissan Micra Cup in Canada.
Announcing the second season of GT Academy in India, Guillaume Sicard, President –
Nissan India Operations said, “ When we speak about innovation and excitement at
Nissan, we not only mean our cars but go beyond that with initiatives like GT Academy.
Over the years, the competition has given aspirants and dreamers an opportunity to

2. race real racing cars on tracks all over the world. We are glad that we were able to fulfil
one Indian’s dream last year and proudly launch the GT Academy 2015 today in India.”
A new competition, ‘GT Academy Asia’, will also be launched for 2015. The Asian region
will feature Thailand and India, both of which were introduced to GT Academy in 2014
as part of the International competition, and will also be open to gamers from
Indonesia, the Philippines and Nissan and PlayStation’s homeland, Japan. The winner of
the GT Academy in Asia will bag an opportunity to race at the Dubai 24hrs in January
2016.
The 2015 GT Academy competition will be the biggest year yet for the virtual to reality
competition. Gamers from up to 24 countries around the world will be able to enter,
with GT Academy International and Asia reaching a staggering 2.2 billion potential
entrants. Nissan and PlayStation are looking for the very best to progress from virtual
racing to the real world of racing for Nissan.
Since the first GT Academy competition in 2008, millions of gamers have competed
for the life-changing prize of becoming a professional racing driver. Former GT
Academy champions Lucas Ordoñez and Jann Mardenborough have both enjoyed
considerable success as professional racers and this June will compete
for Nissan at the very pinnacle of motor sport in the LM P1 class at the famous Le
Mans 24 Hours while Mark Shulzhitskiy, previous GT Academy winner for Russia will
be driving the Nissan GT-R LM Nismo at the legendary endurance race.
NISMO Athlete Ricardo Sanchez, is enjoying the life-changing journey of GT Academy
and is currently racing a Nissan GT-R NISMO GT3 in the prestigious Blancpain
Endurance Series in Europe. Such success proves that winning GT Academy is a
genuine opportunity to launch a dream career as a racing driver.
For more information about GT Academy India including how to enter and the location
of Live Events please visit: www.nissan.in/innovation/gt-academy |
www.facebook.com/nissanindia | #RacingDriverWanted
Additional notes:
About GT Academy 2015
GT Academy is a collaboration between PlayStation® and Nissan that uses the
virtual world of the Gran Turismo®6 game to unearth real-world racing talent. Now
in its seventh year, GT Academy includes separate competitions for Europe
(France, Italy, UK, Germany, Spain, Portugal, Belgium, Netherlands, Luxembourg,
Hungary, Poland and Czech Republic), International group (Australia, Mexico, North
Africa, Turkey and United States) and Asia (India, Thailand, Philippines, Indonesia
and Japan).
The GT Academy qualification round will be part of a free Gran Turismo®6 update
on PlayStation®3 (terms and conditions apply). The fastest gamers in each
participating territory gain access to their region’s National Final event. A number
of competitors can also gain access via a series of Live Gran Turismo events
organised locally. The National Finals add driving, fitness and a media element to
the gaming.
From National Finals, the action moves onto the legendary Race Camp, where the
competitors are put through their paces on track in Nissan sports cars under the
watchful eyes of high profile judges and mentors. Winners from each competition
will be invited to take part in the intensive Driver Development Programme. They

3. could qualify for an international race license and race for Nissan professionally,
with the chance to potentially join Nissan’s elite Nismo Athletes.
Previous winners of GT Academy are now regular racing drivers. In 2015, Jann
Mardenborough (UK, winner in 2011) will be racing in the World Endurance
Championship for Nissan in the top LM P1 category and in GP3, a feeder series to
Formula One, with the championship-winning Carlin team. Lucas Ordoñez (Spain,
winner in 2008) will be racing in the Le Mans 24 Hours this year in the Nisan GT-R
LM NISMO LMP1 entry, alongside Mardenborough. The 2014 Champions, Gaetan
Paletou (Europe) and Ricardo Sanchez (International) are competing in the
Blancpain Endurance Series with the Nissan GT Academy Team RJN.
News and views on GT Academy 2014 and the progress of all the GT Academy
drivers can be followed on various platforms including:
www.facebook.com/GTAcademy | www.twitter.com/GTAcademy |
www.youtube.com/gtacademyeurope | www.flickr.com/photos/gtacademyeurope.
About Nissan Motor India Pvt. Ltd.
Nissan Motor India Private Ltd. (NMIPL) is a 100% subsidiary of Nissan Motor Co.
Ltd. Japan. The company was incorporated in 2005 and offers innovative and
exciting products across hatchback, MUV, SUV and sedan segments in India.
Nissan together with its global alliance partner Renault set up a manufacturing
plant and a Research & Development Centre near Chennai. Nissan in India has a
portfolio of two brands, Nissan and Datsun. For more information, visit
www.nissan.in
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION PLEASE CONTACT:
Vijayendra Vikram Singh | Ghazal Javed
Nissan Motor India Pvt. Ltd.
Mobile : +91-9819931183 | +91-9920604494
Email: vijayendra.vikram@email.nissan.in | ghazal.javed@email.nissan.in
Meenakshi Oberoi | Pratik Dogra
20:20 MSL
Mobile : +91-9860569994 | +91-9873468965
Email: meenakshi.oberoi@2020msl.com | pratik.dogra@mslgroup.com