Gamers with racing in their blood could have the opportunity to take part in a GT Academy-style driving experience and VIP trip to the 2013 Le Mans 24 Hours when they enter a special ‘Seasonal Event’ activated within GT5: Academy Edition. The special edition version of the famous Gran Turismo®5 game is offering some lucky players from participating countries the chance to follow in the footsteps of GT Academy’s virtual-to-reality racing drivers through the new seasonal event. The GT Academy Challenge will be open from 00:01GMT on 01 January 2013 and run until 23:59GMT on 31 January.

GT Academy Challenge is open to all purchasers of GT5: Academy Edition, with players from Austria, Czech Rep., Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, New Zealand, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Rep. of Ireland, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, UAE and UK eligible to attend a day of intensive driver training(1).

All owners of the GT5: Academy Edition who wish to enjoy this special event will need to redeem the SEN voucher enclosed within their game and then proceed to the ‘Seasonal Event’ area of GT5™. Gamers in eligible countries will additionally have the option to register their details on gran-turismo.com which will be necessary to be eligible for the Silverstone driver training day.

In February following the close of the competition, the top six gamers on the in-game leaderboard will be notified that they can travel to the renowned Silverstone Circuit in March. The six will be joined by Joel Cincinnatus, who won a place at Silverstone, home of the GT Academy Race Camp, by triumphing in a special GT Academy Challenge event at the Paris Motor Show. The best driver on the day at Silverstone, judged by GT Academy’s top team of instructors, will then be rewarded with a VIP trip for two to the legendary Le Mans 24 Hours race in June 2013 as VIP guests of GT Academy partner Nissan.

As Kazunori Yamauchi, President of Polyphony Digital, explains: “GT5: Academy Edition was created to celebrate the success of the GT Academy programme which has continued to grow in 2012. We had over 830,000 people across Europe enter GT Academy and our 2012 champions from Europe, Germany, Russia and the USA have now completed their Driver Development Programmes and are ready to race in the Dubai 24 Hours from 10-12 January in two Nissan 370Zs.

“While those winning gamers are racing for real, our GT Academy Challenge seasonal event will be taking place in-game. Seven lucky players will also get a taste of the GT Academy experience at Silverstone.”

GT5: Academy Edition is priced at €29,99/£20.41 and makes a great Christmas gift. As well as the exclusive competition, purchasers of GT5: Academy Edition will also receive a 25% discount voucher for the online Gran Turismo® Boutique (2). The Academy Edition version has been re-mastered from the original game to include all functionality updates since its launch as well as bonus DLC – including more than 30 extra vehicles and 3 new courses plus paint packs and racing gear. The DLC comprises – Complete Pack (Car Pack, Course Pack, Special Paint Pack, Racing Gear Pack), Car Pack 2, Car Pack 3 and Speed Test Pack – individually valued at over €26. The game also includes a special new Nissan GT-R driven in the 2012 Nürburgring 24H race by Gran Turismo creator Kazunori Yamauchi with team-mate Lucas Ordoñez, the first GT Academy winner.