GT Academy Finalists Head for Silverstone

Gamers dreaming of becoming professional racing drivers battled hard to set the fastest lap time on Gran Turismo 6 on the Sony PlayStation 3. A total of 2,717 competitors took part in the online qualifying rounds of GT Academy, the first edition held in Turkey, which began on 21 April and ended on 16 June.

The live events, which began at the Istanbul Autoshow, were held from 11-16 June at Marmara Forum in Istanbul, Forum Bornova in Izmir and Ankamall in Ankara. A total of 3,463 people took part in the live events.

The 10 drivers who set the best lap times in each of the online and live events contested the Turkish finals at Istanbul's Marmara Forum on 27-28 June. The 20 finalists, who came from different regions of Turkey, fought hard to be among the six who will go to the race camp at Silverstone. The names who earned the right to represent Turkey against the Mexican, Australian, United States and North African teams at the camp at Silverstone Circuit are: Hüseyin Dağlı, Volkan Kurdoğlu, Ege Topaloğlu, Utku Bosut, Çağdaş Gülşen and Fatih Demircan.

After it was first held in Europe in 2008, the Nissan PlayStation GT Academy became hugely popular worldwide. The Turkish round of GT Academy was held for the first time this year. Anyone who owned a PlayStation and Gran Turismo 6 could enter online, and competitors also joined in the excitement through live events held at various locations across Turkey.

Darren Cox, the mastermind behind GT Academy and NISMO's Global Head of Brand, Marketing and Sales, said of the Turkish finals: "It's great that finalists have been selected from Turkey too. We can't wait to get them out on the track at Silverstone. At the race camp at Silverstone in August, the six best names from the finals in Turkey will go head to head to show their talent in real track conditions."

Nissan Deputy General Manager İbrahim Anaç highlighted the Turkish finals held at Marmara Forum, saying: "Over the two days of the event we witnessed the excitement of the participants' fight to go to Silverstone and become a real racing driver. As Nissan, we are delighted to give unique backing through GT Academy so that motorsport gets the place it deserves in Turkey and becomes more popular. I congratulate the winners of the two-day battle and wish them every success at Silverstone."

Sony PlayStation Games Manager Sercan Sülün said: "GT Academy, held for the first time in Turkey this year, searched the virtual racing world for gamers who could race on real tracks for Nissan, through both online qualifying and live events. We are delighted to be part of a competition that turns gamers' dreams into reality."

About the Finalists:

Çağdaş Gülşen was born in 1986 and lives in Istanbul. He works as a control engineer at Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality.

Ege Topaloğlu was born in 1991 and is a medical student. He is competing from Istanbul.

Fatih Demircan lives in Istanbul and is a university student.

Hüseyin Dağlı was born in Izmir in 1986 and graduated in Business Administration and Construction.

Utku Bosut entered from Istanbul and is a student in the Computer Engineering department.

Volkan Kurdoğlu was born in 1976 and is competing from Istanbul.