Celebrating the success of GT
Academy in India, Guillaume Sicard, President – Nissan India Operations said,
“I am very excited to see the growing enthusiasm in the country towards
motorsports. In just a month’s time, over 10000 participants competed in GT
Academy 2015 with hopes of making it to the top spot.”
“We set out with a target to
democratize motorsports in India and are proud to give an experience to the
finalists today at the racetrack. Our six winners are now ready for an
international exposure at Silverstone and we will be happy if we can make a
difference to their lives by fulfilling their aspirations”, he added.
Announcing the winners at the
National Finals, Arun Malhotra, Managing Director, Nissan Motor India Pvt. Ltd.
said “GT Academy marks Nissan’s commitment to India and its people to fulfil
the dreams by providing them with unique opportunities. We are very happy that
aspiring racers and gamers have taken full advantage of this opportunity and
now stand to turn their dreams into reality.”
The six winners will now spend
a day with Karun Chandhok, mentor of Team India at GT Academy, who will help
them prepare for the Silverstone Race Camp.
Karun, who was also one of the
judges for the event, said, “I have always vouched for driver development
programs that help budding racers. GT Academy is a wonderful initiative to
enter motorsports, especially if you do not have the necessary backing. My next
task is to bring the six winners today to a level where they can compete with
other challengers at an international level.”
Last year, 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 and currently stands at the fifth position overall.
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.
Source: Nissan India