30 Nissan GT Academy finalists begin 2015 International Race Camp at Silverstone Circuit, home of the British F1 Grand Prix

• Six U.S. participants among those competing in grueling six-day camp for chance to be crowned the next International Nissan GT Academy Champion

NASHVILLE, Tenn. – The final leg of a four-month long quest to discover the next professional Nissan race car driver is underway. Today at the legendary Silverstone Circuit in England, 30 GT Academy Finalists from around the world begin their six-day battle side-by-side in a series of strength, stamina, mental agility and on-track driving skill tests at the 2015 International Race Camp. Contestants will continue to compete through the middle of next week before the next International Nissan GT Academy Champion is crowned Wednesday, August 12.

Fans can follow all the action via the following social media outlets:

• GT Academy Twitter handle – @GTAcademy
• GT Academy Facebook page – Facebook.com/GTAcademy
• Nissan Motorsports Twitter handle – @NISMO_USA
• Nissan Motorsports Facebook page – Facebook.com/NISMO
• NISMOTV YouTube Channel – Youtube.com/nismotv

It's been a challenging journey simply to reach this point. By way of online competition, the original pool of more than 50,000 Gran Turismo®6 gamers was whittled down to just 20 national representatives each in five different regions – the U.S., Mexico, Turkey, North Africa and Australia. The remaining national contestants competed last month in their respective countries in virtual races, fitness challenges, skill testing and on-track time trials. Six participants in each country (30 in total) then earned the right to represent their respective countries at the 2015 GT Academy International Race Camp.

High profile judges and mentors will monitor every contestant's performance closely throughout the camp, eliminating competitors on a regular basis. By the beginning of Day 6, only one competitor from each of the five regions will remain.

By the end of Day 6, the last man standing will be crowned the International 2015 Nissan GT Academy Champion.

Among the U.S. competitors is 28-year old dentist Tyler Utley, a married father of one from Santa Clara, Utah, who put his career and life on hold to chase his dream of becoming a professional race car driver.

"(Playing Gran Turismo®6) was just something I've always been passionate about, something that kept the stress level down while I was going through dental school," said Utley.

That passion has carried Utley all the way to Silverstone, where his virtual racing skills will help guide him through Race Camp.

The wildly successful GT Academy program has produced several champion professional race car drivers in years' past – including 2011 inaugural U.S. winner Bryan Heitkotter, a Fresno, California native who recently notched his fifth win in the GTA class of the Pirelli World Challenge – and Utley, among many others, can see why.

"There's definitely a real connection (between virtual and real-life racing)," said Utley. "It really helps in learning the driving line and physics of the machines now in sim racing. They really know how cars can behave and traction limits and everything like that. There's definitely a direct translation to real-world racing."

Joining Utley and his fellow U.S. competitors is 27-year old Ryan Lynch, an Aerospace Engineering student at Colorado University-Boulder from Broomfield, Colorado.

Between training sessions at the gym, practice time at the track and putting in hours in the classroom, Lynch understandably has found it difficult to tame expectations as camp begins.

"You catch yourself daydreaming of winning it, and also day dreaming about losing it," said Lynch. "Of course we all desperately want to win it but only one can, so the hardest part is being realistic and managing your expectations."

But just what exactly would it mean to win it all?

"It would mean having the opportunity to make the most of my life," said Lynch. "There is no other career that I could be as successful in because of the dedication I would put forth, and my passion involved with the sport. Having the opportunity to live my life to its fullest potential and becoming one of the best is a gift I would never take for granted."

Competing alongside Utley and Lynch at Silverstone are fellow U.S. finalists Armen Aghakhan, Max King, JT Lauro and Vladimir Skirda. 2015 GT Academy International Race Camp concludes Wednesday, August 12. For more information on GT Academy and the International Race Camp, please visit http://www.nissanusa.com/gtacademyshow.

About GT Academy 2015
GT Academy is a collaboration between PlayStation® and Nissan that uses the virtual world of the Gran Turismo®6 game to unearth real-world racing talent. Now in its seventh year, GT Academy includes separate competitions for Europe (France, Italy, UK, Germany, Spain, Portugal, Belgium, Netherlands, Luxembourg, Hungary, Poland and Czech Republic), International group (Australia, Mexico, North Africa, Turkey and United States) and Asia (India, Thailand, Philippines, Indonesia and Japan).

From National Finals, the action moves onto the legendary Race Camp, where the competitors are put through their paces on track in Nissan sports cars under the watchful eyes of high profile judges and mentors. Winners from each competition will be invited to take part in the intensive Driver Development Program, where they have the opportunity to qualify for an international race license and race for Nissan professionally.

Previous winners of GT Academy are now regular racing drivers. In 2015, Jann Mardenborough (UK, winner in 2011) is racing in the World Endurance Championship for Nissan in the top LM P1 category and in GP3, a feeder series to Formula One, with the championship-winning Carlin team. Lucas Ordoñez (Spain, winner in 2008) will be racing in the Le Mans 24 Hours this year in the Nisan GT-R LM NISMO LMP1 entry, alongside Mardenborough. The 2014 Champions, Gaetan Paletou (Europe) and Ricardo Sanchez (International) are competing in the Blancpain Endurance Series with the Nissan GT Academy Team RJN.

# # #

Contact:

Dan Passe
Nissan North America
615-725-5264
dan.passe@nissan-usa.com

Kevin Raftery
Nissan North America
615-981-9870
kevin.raftery@nissan-usa.com