Confirmed: Gran Turismo 5 for PlayStation®3 will feature the entire Nurburgring!

Get the first trial on the virtual track at the Nurburgring 24 Hours race – as Kazunori Yamauchi races the real-life one!

Sony Computer Entertainment Europe has announced a new milestone in the history of the Gran Turismo® franchise: the inclusion in the forthcoming Gran Turismo 5 for PlayStation®3 (PS3™) of all three courses of the Nurburgring, Europe’s most iconic racetrack. For the first time ever, players will get to race the Grand Prix course, the Nordschleife and the 24 Hours course – making the new game the undisputed champion of racing realism.

Fans and spectators at the Nurburgring 24 Hours race this weekend will have the chance to be the first to get hands on with the new courses in GT5 on a bank of trackside PS3 units. As the real life drivers get to grips with the nerve-wracking twists and turns of spots like the Flugplatz, the Bergwerk and the terrifying blind bend of the Caracciola Karussell, racing fans can be right there with them, speeding around the Nurburgring behind the wheels of the world’s most realistic virtually-rendered supercars. And in a twist that brings racing and gaming closer together, GT fans should also keep an eye out during the race for Gran Turismo creator Kazunori Yamauchi, who will be on the real-life track at the wheel of a Lexus IS-F, as part of the World Car Awards team.

The World Car Awards team was created in 2009 by Australian born motor journalist Peter Lyon, and together with teammates Kazunori Yamauchi and renowned Japanese racing driver and journalist Hideshi Matsuda, the team achieved first place in their class in their very first race – a 4 hour endurance race at the Nurburgring. The team return to the Nurburgring this year for the 24 Hours race joined by Owen Mildenhall, a professional racing driver and the senior road tester for the UK’s Autoexpress magazine.

Look out for the next GT5 announcements at E3 – and prepare for the drive of your life.