GT Academy Champ Heitkotter Takes Big Leap in Mission to Become Pro Racer

LEXINGTON, Ohio – The dream of becoming a professional race car driver looks more attainable for 2011 GT Academy USA champion Bryan Heitkotter after he qualified the Nissan Motorsports – GT Academy 370Z on the pole in for last weekend's Continental Tire Challenge Series race. 

After stumbling slightly at the start of the race, Heitkotter ran the next 38 laps steadily in fourth position in a very competitive field throughout the first half of the enduro.  Adversity hit the team during the first pit stop. "The car in the pit stall behind us was forward in his box and I missed our (pit) box by a bit, had to be pushed back, and then there was trouble getting the right rear tire changed," he said.

The car came back on the track in 19th position, and during a subsequent caution period Heitkotter turned the car over to veteran co-driver B.J. Zacharias. B.J. stormed back through the field, working all the way up to eighth position as time expired.  Zacharias said, "It was a solid top ten, but we had a top five car. We were really good on the longer runs – it's just that there were so many cautions it was hard to come all the way back."

"Although we would have liked to get a top five finish, I can't say enough about how well Doran racing has prepared this car and what a professional job Bryan and BJ did in driving it hard all weekend," said Ron Stukenberg, Sr. Manager, Nissan Motorsports.  "We took away a lot of positives from this weekend, and we can learn good things from this experience."

In qualifying Heitkotter blistered the rolling 2.25-mile Mid Ohio course in 1:32.422 for an average of 88 mph on his final qualifying pass. Even with the good result he knew the car could be even faster. "I'm really shocked to win the pole," said Heitkotter, who earned his ride by winning the first GT Academy in 2011, emerging from a group of 53,000 hopefuls in online Gran Turismo 5 competition. "We've been chasing the handling since we got here. We're close on the setup, but I was surprised when they told me over the radio that we got P-1. "

"I got here because of the Gran Turismo Academy. We had a one-week shootout in Silverstone, driving real cars, and I was the winner. My prize was a drive for Nissan. This is a total dream come true. I've always wanted to race, but never had the opportunity to do it. I knew when they announced it that this would be my one shot to make it in racing, and I gave it everything I had. I didn't expect to win, but I knew if I didn't try I'd be kicking myself forever. This a great launching pad for me into professional racing."

GT Academy online competition officially ends on Sunday, June 24
In July, the National Final Event will bring together the top 32 players from the US, with the top 16 players advancing to the Final Selection Round. This all-important stage will be held at Silverstone Circuit in August. There, the Final Selection Committee—which is comprised of the world's top driving trainers, including former F1 pilot Johnny Herbert—will judge the finalists over several days by testing not only their driving skills, but also their physical fitness and mental toughness.

Only one person will be left standing. The Final Selection Committee will declare an overall winner, who will then be sent back to the UK to participate in a special, five-month "Driver's Training Program", which includes several wheel-to-wheel racing events. After successfully completing this training, the "chosen one" will make his or her international debut as a professional racecar driver.

So far, 929,665 people have downloaded and played the GT Academy demo. Of these, nearly 300,000 are Americans, so, the competition for racing hopefuls is much deeper than in season one.

For more information on the program, Nissan's involvement, Bryan and the TV show, go to: http://www.nissanusa.com/gtacademyshow. For more information and the latest news about Grand Am Racing and the Continental Challenge, follow the series online at http://www.grand-am.com.
Nissan Performance on Facebook: www.facebook.com/nissanperformance

The race will be broadcast on SPEED TV on Sunday, June 17, at noon EDT (11 a.m. CDT).

Media contact: Steve Yaeger, Nissan Motorsports, 615-427-9172

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