It was truly a race to the finish as the two-day long GT Academy Nationals Finals Event came to a close on Wednesday, March 23. The top 32 finishers, eight players from four regions across the U.S., all flew to Orlando to compete in this week's National Finals Event at the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex at the Disney World Resort.

The top 16 will now prepare for a trip to England for the next phase of GT Academy, to be held at the Silverstone racing circuit　in the U.K. this summer. Participants will join an intense, week-long racing camp where they will be judged by an expert panel of racing professionals, rating each competitor’s skills, performance, and overall aptitude for the requirements of a professional racer. The person who is judged to have the most natural talent and potential to succeed as a professional race car driver will be crowned as the first GT Academy winner in the U.S. After that, he will start down the grueling path to train, obtain a racing license, and make his big debut behind the wheel in a major endurance race.

Here are the 32 competitors who participated in the tournament with the top 16 advancing to the final phase of competition in Silverstone (ranked in order of placement):

1. Bryan Heitkotter
2. Christopher Roberts
3. Jason Miller
4. Andre Gomes
5. John Wilding
6. Christopher Morton
7. Kris Norris
8. Gregory Russell
9. Connor Clifford
10. Phillip Arscott
11. Nick Fontana
12. Rich Pratt
13. Glenn McGee Howle
14. Steve Driscoll
15. Sean Johnston
16. Jose Cedeno
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17. Damian Gosztyla
18. Derrek Dalton
19. Emerson Trimble
20. Ryan Gordon
21. Matthew Wright
22. Kyong Oh
23. Iliya Bridan
24. Brett Jones
25. Nick Tenhulzen
26. Tom Carstensen
27. Carl Posey
28. Darryl Southerland
29. James Edwards
30. Landon Harrison
DQ. Brian Rice
DNF. Brock Harrison


Taking one step closer to possibly becoming a part of a professional race car team, these 16 finalists emerged from a pool of over 53,000 hopefuls who competed for a top spot through Gran Turismo 5, battled their way through 2 days of intense racing, and earned a spot as one of the final 16. Note that the exact lineup of the 16 actually attending Silverstone is subject to change based on screenings, eligibility clearances, and personal availability of the contestants, and in the case someone is unable to attend, alternates will be called up in order of rankings of the final 32.

Congratulations from Sony, Polyphony Digital and Nissan North America to these truly amazing 16 individuals. See you at Silverstone!