August 2023 saw the release of Gran Turismo. Its pitch is no coincidence: it’s based on the GT Academy launched in 2008. At the time, Nissan and PlayStation were taking a crazy gamble: turning a Gran Turismo player into a real driver. Here’s the story of this adventure, which I was lucky enough to witness “for real”.
Video games are like cinema: there’s something for everyone. And of course, everyone has a preference for one genre or another. Some enjoy platform games, others MMOs, FPSs or adventure games. On the other hand, there’s only one type of game (or three, if you count sailing and aviation) that brings the virtual closer to the real thing: racing simulations. They can put a player behind his screen in the same situation as a racing driver in his car… Minus, of course, the notion of danger and “g”. On the other hand, can you imagine a FIFA player becoming a professional footballer? Well, no!
No more than a Call Of pro joining the Special Forces. Whereas a Gran Turismo player who takes the controls of a racing car would ultimately be reproducing in reality what he does at home, installed in a cockpit, behind his steering wheel. Hardware manufacturers have been well aware of this for some years now. The boundary between a racing simulator and a real car has become very thin indeed. It’s no coincidence that most professional racing teams have their own simulators, so that real drivers can train outside meetings.
Discover: SimRacing equipment for professional drivers
And it’s with this “very simple” idea that Darren Cox, Marketing Director at Nissan France, imagines the GT Academy. He thought of collaborating with PlayStation and its flagship game Gran Turismo to create this European (later international) competition. The year was 2008. Players from twelve countries took part in the competition on Gran Turismo 5 Prologue. A foretaste of the next GT 5, but above all a game in which you can download the famous Eiger Nordwand track (a downhill special from a map in the Swiss mountains) to take part in the competition. No fewer than 25,000 players download the GT Academy mode. The principle is simple: set the fastest time – with no restriction on the number of attempts – with a Nissan 350Z. GT Academy is launched!
Virtual qualification
By this time, I was already a video game journalist and motorsport enthusiast. It was logical, and even obvious, that I should try my luck at this first GT Academy! As mentioned above, there were 25,000 players. Each of us at home, eyes glued to our TV screens, steering wheel in hand, trying to complete the fastest lap in order to be among those selected for the French final.
“It’s 2008, and players from twelve countries are competing in the
competition on GT5 Prologue
To quickly get an idea of the level of competition, we have access to other drivers’ rankings in real time. So it’s easy to see where you stand, not only among the French players, but also in the overall European standings. Yes, I spent a few hours behind the wheel… and finally managed to come 22nd. The problem is that only the top 20 players in each country can qualify for the national final. But as luck sometimes favors the discerning (which I obviously am), some qualified players who couldn’t make it to the final allowed me to move up the rankings and “earn” my place.
And so, at last, the big day arrived! And that’s when I realized what was at stake in GT Academy for all these passionate players, who had the chance of a lifetime to become professional drivers! Each of them has put in hours of GT practice to earn their place. But there’s still a long way to go, something we all don’t know yet. I didn’t manage to place in the top three, finishing 12th if memory serves. For the record, as a journalist, I’m not allowed to go on to the next stage anyway. The European final will bring together the top 3 players from each country. Despite this, Sony invited me to Silverstone, the heart of British motorsport, to cover the event this time.
More and more real hardware
What was possible in 2008 is even more so today. Over the past 14 years, simulators have become increasingly sophisticated. You only have to look at the market for simracing steering wheels and cockpits to understand that, in 2022, many gamers want to share the real sensations of a racing driver in their living room.
With the arrival of Direct Drive steering wheels and Load Cell pedals, the market has totally exploded. During the Covid crisis, we even saw F1 drivers such as Charles Leclerc (Ferrari), Lando Norris (McLaren) and reigning world champion Max Verstappen (Red Bull) racing against each other virtually. And we can tell you, it’s all happening fast! Proof that the boundary between the real and the virtual is becoming increasingly thin.
But in addition to accessories, games have also evolved enormously in this area. Titles such as F1 23, iRacing, Assetto Corsa, Gran Turismo 7 and rFactor 2, to name but a few, require the best players to understand the car and then be able to tune it… and thus get even closer to reality. For a budget of around €2,000, you can have a real racing simulator in your own home. And if you’re ever lucky enough to take a course in a real single-seater or GT car, you’ll see that you’ll be right at home thanks to all the laps you’ve completed in virtual reality!
Silverstone: a shock for all!
There will be eight editions of the GT Academy. But that famous first one, in 2008, will blow many minds, not only mine, but especially those of the title contenders! So here we are, gathered at the Silverstone Racecamp. And no one knows what to expect. The only thing the candidates know is that this training camp will become their home for a week, and that the ultimate goal is to take them from virtual driver to real endurance racer. And I can tell you, some of them are in for a real treat!
“So here we are, at the Silverstone Racecamp. And here, nobody knows what to expect.”
Not knowing myself what the program is for the next few days, I quickly realize that things are about to get serious. Already, it’s no longer a question of video games: the organizers’ aim is to find out whether a Gran Turismo player would be capable – and to make sure that he or she would – of getting behind the wheel of a Nissan 350Z GT4 to take part in the Dubai 24 Hours in January 2009, 5 months later. Just imagine the stress of the coaches on site! Five months to train a PlayStation player for a 24-hour race in a real car, you can’t go wrong!
Day 1 gets everyone in the mood straight away. To begin with, participants take written tests. Then comes the physical side, with a battery of exams and stress tests to assess everyone’s physical condition.
By the evening of the event, some candidates, even though ranked among the top three in their respective countries, were already packing their bags. But of course, things don’t stop there. Come on, day 2! And we’re going to have to go straight! This time, it’s her majesty’s soldiers who are in charge, with a more than intensive training program… And now I’m thinking that covering the event as a journalist suits me perfectly!
Especially when I count the impressive number of push-ups the poor candidates are doing. And push-ups are just an appetizer. What’s next on the menu? A race of effort, an assault course, etc. Enough to keep you on the edge of your seat and put some of you off. That’s right, because GT Academy is like Koh Lanta: in the end, only one will remain!
Some literally crack up, others bitterly regret having skipped PE lessons in high school, but many still cling on. Well, this time the “survivors” have earned it, and they finally settle down behind a steering wheel, as sore and tired as they are. And it’s only Day 3. Our dear apprentice drivers devour this gleaming 500+hp Nissan GT-R with their eyes, excited as Karine Le Marchand at the Salon de l’Agriculture. Well… you missed out, guys! First, you’ll be putting your assault course-sore buttocks into a go-kart and taking the start of a 4-hour endurance race. After that, it’s off to test drive a Nissan 350 Z with an instructor, followed by a few laps in a single-seater..
We’ll spare you the rest of the program. The important thing to remember is that there are now only eight of them. And these eight have every reason to believe that they’ve qualified for the super final. Among them, cock-a-doodle-doo, is a Frenchman: Arnaud Lacombe (see box). And now, the fun’s over (even if before, it wasn’t exactly riotous in the ranks): at each test, the worst performers are eliminated.
A sort of sudden death that finally saw Spaniard Lucas Ordoñez, a business school student, and German cab driver Lars Schlömern take the Grail. For the two winners, the GT Academy really gets underway. They have five months to go from gamers to drivers, from the virtual to the real thing. The countdown to Dubai is on. They’re in the hands of their coaches, who not only have to get them to the starting grid, but also make sure they don’t take 2 seconds per lap against the professionals. Quite a challenge!
GT Academy: a success!
The two young drivers take part in intensive training. But remember, Koh Lanta and all that… In the end, there’s only one left… And Lucas is proving to be more capable and physically fit than Lars. The Spaniard has just won his drive: he will represent the GT Academy in Dubai alongside Johnny Herbert (ex F1 driver), Alex Buncombe (a European GT4 driver) and Rob Barff (the GT Academy instructor). A race in which they finished 45th overall. And in 8th place in the A5 series (out of 17 competitors). But above all, young Lucas didn’t get into a fender-bender, and showed great consistency in his first race.
Not bad for a rookie who, just five months ago, was clocking up laps on his PlayStation between two episodes of Koh Lanta! And that’s just the start of the adventure for the “new” Spanish driver. He would go on to take part in the Le Mans 24 Hours 5 times, with a second-place finish in the LMP2 category in 2011 and an appearance in LMP1 (the premier class) in 2015.
The challenge has come full circle! The GT Academy will run until 2016. It is open to the whole world, with competitions in Europe, the United States, Russia, the Middle East, Australia, India and South Africa, enabling new talent to be discovered and trained every year. For Nissan and PlayStation, the bet is on! Yes, a Gran Turismo player can become a professional racing driver!
The GT World Series
True, the GT Academy has disappeared. But today, the focus is on eSport. The aim is no longer to turn a player into a real driver, but to crown a Gran Turismo World Champion each year. All you need is the game and you’re in! The world final takes place every year in Monaco in November. The world’s best Gran Turismo
gT7 players… and an F1 world champion as ambassador for the game!
Arnaud Lacombe
4th in the first GT Academy, now an official Thrustmaster driver.
GT Academy 2008 is one of the most vivid memories of my life. But there are some very
good ones as well as the very bad ones. For any enthusiast, to live this experience on a track as mythical as Silverstone is incredible. To be able to drive high-performance cars without being limited by the traditional instructor who prevents you from pushing your limits, or to be coached by a former F1 driver (Johnny Herbert), is a privilege available to very few people. I was also lucky enough to experience these moments with one of my brothers, who also qualified for this Race Camp. I was 22, with only 6 months of driving experience and no track experience.
“It was pure madness!”
The pressure was enormous climbing into a 350Z in right-hand drive without any driving aids… And in the rain, of course. Unfortunately, there were many other aspects I wasn’t prepared for. The sporting aspect in particular, the media, the language barrier. All these things prevented me from enjoying the experience during the first 2 days.
For example, and just to mention this, we had a physical test consisting of sprinting on a bike for 1 full minute. I can tell you that minute was the longest of my life. I couldn’t stand upright when I got out of the saddle, and my vision had turned completely green! But, in the words of the psychologist in charge of the participants, my face lit up at the end of those 3 days when we were able to settle into the buckets.
Behind the wheel, I have nothing but great memories. The 1st drift of my life on a 350Z, the best time on a single-seater equivalent to a Formula Renault, a gymkhana with a Caterham that was great fun to drive. I was realizing my dream… quite simply. Of course, my worst memory will always be the defeat (on points). I had the ability as a driver, having beaten the 2 winners that year on several occasions. A small consolation when you have to watch your Grail slipping away.
