Nissan success on track ahead of 2015 GT Academy Finals

• Top results scored on track in the U.S. and Canada last weekend
• 2015 GT Academy International Race Camp gets underway this week
• First final of the brand new GT Academy Asia starts next week

Six U.S. Nissan GT Academy finalists earn spots at International Race Camp

LONDON – Nissan had a successful weekend on track in North America with the Nissan GT-R NISMO GT3 taking both James Davison and Bryan Heitkotter to overall podium finishes in the Pirelli World Challenge at Mid-Ohio. In Canada, the winner of GT Academy Thailand in 2014 – Thanaroj Tanasitnitikate, or "Mr. T" – took two more podium positions in the Nissan Micra Cup at Trois-Rivieres last weekend, maintaining his lead in the new-for-2015 championship.

In 2011, GT Academy was split into two regions: Europe and the U.S. The European winner was Jann Mardenborough, and the winner for the U.S. was Bryan Heitkotter. 

Heitkotter now races in the U.S., competing in a Nissan GT-R NISMO GT3 in the Pirelli World Challenge. This weekend at the Mid-Ohio event, Heitkotter took another podium finish in the amateur class and was bumped up to the GT Class for the remainder of the season. He then made his intentions clear by taking third place overall in the second race of the weekend. Another driver who is doing well for Nissan is James Davison who took two second places this weekend in the AE Performance Nissan GT-R NISMO GT3.

In 2015, the Nissan PlayStation GT Academy will discover three new virtual-to-reality racing drivers. This year's competition is split between Europe, Asia and International; each of those regions will produce a brand new NISMO Athlete to follow in the footsteps of drivers such as Lucas Ordóñez and Jann Mardenborough. 

Race Camp International starts this week with competitors from Australia, the U.S., Mexico, Turkey and North Africa all coming together to fight for the life-changing prize. Last year Mexico took the International spoils with Ricardo Sanchez, who now races a Nissan GT-R NISMO GT3 in the Blancpain Endurance Series.

First Opportunity for Japanese Gamers to Win with Nissan
Nissan Playstation GT Academy Asia launched this year, and it gives gamers from Nissan's home country Japan their first opportunity to compete for a career as a racing driver. The competition has been fierce in Japan, but the final six have now been selected and will take their place at Race Camp next week.

The Japanese finalists will face stiff competition from India, Thailand, Philippines and Indonesia's finest gamers, who are all ready to go head-to-head to become the next gamer-turned-racer.

Nissan PlayStation GT Academy continues to uncover gamers with the raw talent required to become great racing drivers.  Once the graduates have gone through the intensive driver development program, they are ready to fight against the best racing drivers in the world.

In the following two weeks, the Asia and International winners will be selected. And then in October, the winner of GT Academy Europe 2015 will be selected at a special Race Camp that will be held at the Yas Marina Circuit in Abu Dhabi.

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