Who among us that has played any number of racing games on our console hasn't dreamed of actually strapping in for real behind the wheel of an actual race car? Although it may seem like a distant fantasy for many, for a select few, it will be a dream come true. Nissan andGran Turismo'sGT Academy gives gamers just that and a new reality show dubbed, NissanGT Academy premiers tonight on Speed documenting the process of turning gamer into racer.
0:00 / 0:00
We're pretty familiar with howGran Turismo's GT Academy works. The best 16 AmericanGran Turismo 5gamers will get a shot to earn a gig as a Nissan factory driver - only in this case (and since we're talking about reality TV-crazed Americans) there'll be the compulsory reality show, which is whereNissan GT Academycomes in.
From the trailer we see here,Nissan GT Academyseems to have all the trappings of your stereotypical reality show, except with a bit of racing thrown in at the Silverstone Circuit in the U.K. You've got some outlandish characters represented by a slightly-pudgy southern man who giggles as he says he'd be willing to drop his wife, apartment and job for the job as a Nissan factory driver.
Nissan GT Academyrounds things out with some military training (what reality show is complete without it?) and three judges who we can only assume will be in charge of the ever-important eliminations. The three judges are all former racecar drivers with a few victories under their belts. Liz Halliday represents the American Le Mans Series, Tommy Kendall represents SCCA Trans Am and NASCAR, and Danny Sullivan represents both Formula 1 and IndyCar.
While we're sure Speed's "Race from Virtual to Reality" would be all the better without the reality show gimmicks, it does look like a promising program.Nissan GT Academypremieres tonight at 10; will you watch it?
Source: YouTube
I generally like writing—especially when it’s about cars—but I hate writing about myself. So instead of blathering on about where I was born (New York City, in case you were wondering) or what type of cars I like (all of ’em, as long as it has a certain sense of soul or purpose), I’ll answer the one question I probably get most, right after what’s your favorite car (see above): How’d you get that job? Luck. Well, mostly. Hard work, too. Lots of it. I sort of fell into my major of journalism/mass communication at St. Bonaventure University and generally liked it a lot. In order to complete my degree senior year, we had to spend our last two semesters on some sort of project. Seeing as I loved cars and already spent a good portion of my time reading about cars on sites such as Motor Trend, I opted to create a car blog. I started a Tumblr, came up with a car-related name (The Stig’s American Cousin), signed up for media access on a bunch of manufacturer’s websites, and started writing. I did everything from cover new trim levels to reviewing my friends’ cars. I even wrote a really bad April Fool’s Day post about the next Subaru Impreza WRX being Toyota-Corolla-based. It was fun, and because it was fun, it never felt like work. Sometime after my blog had gotten off the ground, I noticed that Motor Trend was hiring for what’s now our Daily News Team. I sent in my résumé and a link to my blog. I got the job, and two weeks after graduation I made the move from New York to California. I’ve been happily plugging away at a keyboard—and driving some seriously awesome hardware—ever since.
Read More
