END OF DAY TWO FOR GT ACADEMY 2010 AT SILVERSTONE

For immediate release

End of Day Two for GT Academy 2010 at Silverstone

• After two gruelling days of driving, ten competitors are eliminated from PlayStation® and Nissan’s search for a new racing star

Silverstone, Saturday 27 February 2010 – The GT Academy 2010 has moved a step closer to unearthing a real racing talent. The 18 Gran Turismo® racers who set out on their quest to win a season long Nissan 370Z drive in the European GT4 Cup have been reduced to only eight after two days of intensive driving challenges.

GT Academy made a great start on Friday, despite a dramatic last-minute driver change. Belgium’s national champion, Stijn Wackenier, was forced to withdraw from the competition due to illness. Second placed in Belgium’s national final was Benjamin Peron. He arrived at Silverstone late on Thursday night and joined his PlayStation colleagues for an 0830 briefing on Friday morning. The 18 drivers moved to Silverstone for medical and fitness tests, media interviews and to take to the wheels of a fleet of new Nissan 370Zs. An eight-lap assessment on the Stowe circuit was followed by a “superpole” competition.

Next up was a transfer to a kart track for a two-hour endurance race in some powerful 125cc karts. The competitors were split into pairs and briefed on endurance racing strategy by Academy judges, and successful endurance racers, Rob Barff, Johnny Herbert and Sabine Schmitz. Each pairing was responsible for their own driver and refuelling strategy. Some incredibly fast laps and fierce competition on a cold circuit eventually saw the Franco- Portuguese duo of Jordan Tresson and Felipe Barreto pip Spaniards Roberto Ortero and Marco Calvo for the win.

A late night press conference with members of the international media underlined that there is more than one side to the life of a racing driver. The media took part in judging the drivers on their presentation skills.

Difficult conditions greeted the 18 at Silverstone today (Saturday). But despite some heavy rain during the day, all driving activities went ahead as planned. A sprint competition in the 370Zs was followed by 3 separate activities in the afternoon – a head-to-head, parallel course time-trial in the awesome Nissan GT‑R, drifting and car control in the 370Z, and lapping Stowe circuit in the 370Zs with an instructor assessing their progress.

At the end of the day, the competitors undertook a teamwork challenge. Split into two teams, they were timed to undertake a full ‘pit-stop’ on the new 370Z GT4 race car, delivered to the circuit by their potential new boss, Bob Neville of RJN Motorsport.

Back at the GT Academy’s hotel base, the judges, armed with the competitors’ times and scores supplied by Silverstone’s experienced team of instructors, deliberated on the fate of the 18 hopeful gamers. After less than an hour, the decision was taken as follows:

Formula One and Le Mans 24 Hour winner Johnny Herbert felt that most of the decisions were relatively clear cut: “I would say that the standard is fairly similar to that of GT Academy 2008 at this stage,” he explained. “However, the eight that we have chosen are close, compatible and very competitive. There was probably a bit more of a difference between the last eight in the first Academy. You have the impression that these guys are really going to push each other, but in a positive way.

“Obviously we feel we have got the best eight, but it was a hard decision. There were a couple of guys that were close and we had to weigh up all the factors and make that tough decision based on who can realistically progress to be the full racing package. That means being fast and consistent on the track, but also being able to communicate well with your team and the media. In the end, it may have been some of those ‘softer’ elements that made the difference of one guy over the next.”

The GT Academy continues on Sunday. A 7.00am start of a gruelling assault course awaits the competitors, followed by more intensive race instruction and challenges in the GT-Rs, 370Zs and some single seaters. In the classroom, the eight competitors will sit their written ARDS (race licence) test. Joining the judging panel on Sunday will be former Formula One team owner, Eddie Jordan.

Ends

GT Academy at Silverstone can be followed on various platforms including:

www.facebook.com/GTAcademy | http://eu.gran-turismo.com / | www.twitter.com/GTAcademy

Ends

For more information, please contact your local PlayStation or Nissan PR manager.

Additional notes:

About GT Academy

GT Academy 2010 uses the virtual world of the PlayStation® Gran Turismo® game to find a real-world racing driver. The stakes are high, with an intensive race training programme and a season-long drive in a full race-spec Nissan 370Z in the European GT4 Cup as the ultimate prize.

GT Academy 2010 is the second instalment of this incredible competition. In 2008/09, Lucas Ordoñez, a 23-year-old Spanish student, graduated from his PlayStation®3 (PS3^TM) to become a full-on racing driver via the GT Academy. Lucas is living proof that the answer to the question posed by PlayStation and Nissan - “can the world of virtual racing unearth a real racing talent?” - was a resounding “yes”.

The 2010 GT Academy competition was open to participants who are over 18 from the following territories: Australia; Austria; Belgium; France; Germany; Ireland; Italy; Netherlands; New Zealand; Portugal; Spain; Switzerland; UK; and Denmark, Finland, Norway and Sweden. The Terms and Conditions of entry stipulate that anyone who holds, or has held, a national or international race licence will not qualify for GT Academy. This rule was aimed at maintaining the purity of the “virtual to real” concept. (Terms & Conditions available at www.eu.playstation.com/terms)

GT Academy 2010 is divided into five key stages:

Stage One – Between 17 December, 2009 and 24 January, 2010, over 1.1 million entrants downloaded the Gran Turismo time trial via PlayStation®Network, accessed through PS3. They recorded timed laps in two virtual cars – a standard Nissan 370Z and a race-tuned version. Times in each participating territory were logged on a leader board.

Stage Two – The holders of the twenty fastest online times from each participating territory qualified for national final events, which pitted them in multi-player races on various Gran Turismo tracks to select the fastest one or two Gran Turismo drivers to proceed to the next phase.

Stage Three – 19 finalists, chosen from each of the national finals events, will head to the world famous Silverstone circuit for the GT Academy itself - a five-day, comprehensive race driver ‘boot camp’. They will have a chance to develop new driving skills in an array of Nissan, and other, hardware, while also being judged on fitness and mental attitude by a panel of judges including Eddie Jordan, Johnny Herbert and Sabine Schmitz.

Stage Four - For the two competitors that display the talent, fitness, aptitude, drive and determination to succeed in motor sport, the action will hot-up even further. A UK-based intensive driving and racing programme will prepare them to qualify for an international racing licence.

Stage Five – There is only one place available for the driver with the most potential to compete on an international stage. The overall GT Academy 2010 champion will race a full season in the European GT4 Cup in a Nissan 370Z, prepared by RJN Motorsport. The opening race is scheduled for May, 2010.

About Gran Turismo®

With more than 53 million units sold worldwide, the award-winning Gran Turismo® franchise for the PlayStation®, PlayStation®2 and PlayStation®3 is regarded as the best and most authentic driving simulation ever created due to its true-to-life graphics, physics and real-life cars and tracks. Since the inception of the Gran Turismo franchise, famed creator Kazunori Yamauchi and Polyphony Digital Inc. in Japan have revolutionized the racing category as we know it today. His offerings provide the gamer with the most true-to-life driving simulation within the industry and a unique medium for motor manufacturers to showcase their products.

About Sony Computer Entertainment Europe Ltd

Sony Computer Entertainment Europe (SCEE), based in London, is responsible for the distribution, marketing and sales of PlayStation®3, PlayStation®2, PSP™ (PlayStation®Portable) and PlayStation®Network software and hardware in 99 territories across Europe, the Middle East, Africa and Oceania. SCEE also develops, publishes, markets and distributes entertainment software for these formats, and manages the third party licensing programs for the formats in these territories. Since the launch of PlayStation 3 in November 2006, over 27 million units have been sold globally and continue to be sold at a record level.  Maintaining its position as one of the most successful consumer electronic products in history, PlayStation 2 has sold over 140.7 million systems worldwide.  Since its launch at the end of 2004, over 55.9 million PSPs have been sold globally, highlighting the importance of the portable entertainment market.  With the huge increase in interest and accessibility of network applications and network gaming, over 31 million accounts have registered to PlayStation Network, the free-to-access interactive environment, and over 650 million items have been downloaded.

More information about PlayStation products can be found at www.playstation.com or visit the Virtual Press Office at www.scee.presscentre.com.

PlayStation and the PlayStation logo are registered trademarks of Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. PS3 and PSP are trademarks of Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. All other trademarks are property of their respective owners.

About Nissan in Europe

Nissan employs around 12,500 people in its European design, research and development, manufacturing, logistics, and sales and marketing operations. In calendar year 2008, the company sold 601,647 vehicles across 40 markets in Western and Eastern Europe including Russia. Furthermore, the company produced a total of 539,580 vehicles in its Spanish and British plants.

For more information, please go to www.nissaneurope-newsbureau.com

About the Nissan 370Z

Nissan's new 370Z continues the bloodline of previous Zs by offering an authentic rear-wheel drive sports car experience, with enhanced performance and handling thanks to its more compact dimensions and attention to weight-saving. 

In the first full redesign of the iconic Nissan Z since its re-introduction in 2003, the new 370Z now sports a shorter wheelbase, greater use of lightweight body materials, a new engine with more horsepower and a new 7-speed automatic transmission with paddle shifters, as well as the world’s first synchronized down/up shift rev control system for the manual transmission. 

But to get the full measure of the new model, now designated the Nissan 370Z, one need look no farther than the purposeful, athletic design which retains the Z's basic DNA, but adds a purposeful muscularity.  The new 370Z remains true to the Z's original philosophy, offering accessible performance, true sportscar handling and athletic, agile design.