Nissan
has announced the names of six gamers who have won the Nissan and PlayStation
GT Academy India challenge. These six will now travel to Silverstone in the
United Kingdom to represent India at the International Race Camp. GT Academy is
an innovative platform that offers aspiring racers and gaming enthusiasts the
chance win a place in the internationally acclaimed driver discovery and
development programme.
In
order to carve out a career in professional racing, these six will will compete
with aspiring racers from Thailand, Mexico, Australia and the Middle East at
Silverstone. The top six winners of the challenge are Abhinav Bhatt from New
Delhi, Abhinay Bikkani of Bangalore, Prakash Nair of Trivandrum, Akshay Gupta
of Mumbai, Glen Ivan Suchitha of Bangalore and Karl Patel of Mumbai.
All
the winners will now go to Silverstone
where their driving skills will be tested and honed on the Formula One
Silverstone motor racing circuit in Nismo-tuned Nissan 370Zs and GT-Rs. GT
Academy’s Silverstone Race Camp will eliminate all but the overall winner. This
overall winner will then move on to the three-month Driver Development Programme
and learn all the skills necessary to compete in an international ‘graduation
race’.
These
six gamers from India became winners during the national qualifying round of
Nissan GT Academy in Jaipur. There were 28 regional finalists who competed
against each other. The finalists had each clocked the fastest lap time in
their region during the five-month long qualifying rounds across India. More
than 5000 hopefuls entered the competition.
In
Jaipur the 28 finalists were subjected to two days of intensive testing and
evaluation. They competed in race simulator time trials and their skills were
further tested driving the Nissan Micra car on the track. Their physical and
mental strength and personalities were evaluated. Selection of the final six
was based on their overall performance.
Kenichiro
Yomura, President – Nissan India Operations said, the aim of the company was to
reach out to the people of India and identify local motor racing talent and
give them the chance to compete at the highest levels of motorsport. He said motor
racing was becoming more and more popular in the country. With the innovative
GT Academy Nissan has put the excitement of racing on the track within reach of
everybody in India, he said.
Darren
Cox, Global Director, Nissan Motorsports (NISMO) said he was delighted to
witness the fervour among the contestants at the GT Academy India National
Final. India, he added, has plenty of promising motor racing talent. The Indian
winners will be strong contenders for the ultimate prize at Silverstone, he
noted.