Race for real with Nissan's GT Academy

Nissan and Sony Computer Entertainment Europe have begun their search for the next virtual-to-reality racer, with gamers around the world aiming to perfect their laps on Gran Turismo 6 (GT6) and progress to the next round of the NISMO PlayStation GT Academy competition.

The GT Academy Challenge on Facebook now gives racing driver hopefuls a new route to stake their claim to make the transition from gamer to racer.

A leaderboard will show the highest scores, and the eligible top performers in each country will be invited to an exclusive GT6 qualifying day where they will go head-to-head on the highly acclaimed driving simulator game.

Those who perform best will win a place at their local National Final, joined by the top qualifiers from the in-game qualification round on GT6 as well as those who earned their place in a local Live Event competition, and they will all be challenged on gaming, driving, media and fitness.

From the National Final, finalists will go on to the European Race Camp, which takes place at Silverstone Circuit, the iconic home of British motorsport, where they will be put through their paces on and off the track, with this year's GT Academy champion crowned at the end of the week-long challenge.

There's a lot at stake, as the overall winner will be given the chance to become a real-life racing driver for Nissan. They will receive three months' intensive training to prepare them for taking to the track with Nissan at the Dubai 24 Hour race in January 2015.