The GT Academy program created gaming and motorsport history when the first ever all-gamer driver line-up competed at the prestigious Dubai 24 Hours this past weekend. As a team, all four winners of the highly acclaimed virtual-to-reality motorsport talent spotting contest tackled the demanding endurance race, sharing time behind the wheel of the awesome 410bhp Nissan 370Z. In the end, they ended up with a podium finish, coming in third place in their vehicle class and 26th place overall.

The most recent Gran Turismo®5 experts turned real racing drivers, Bryan Heitkotter (USA) and Jann Mardenborough (UK), earned their place in the Dubai 24 Hours when they won GT Academy last summer. Since then they have been on one of the steepest learning curves imaginable to make sure they were up to the challenge of competing in a 24-hour endurance race. Joining the newest recruits will be two ‘old hands’, the first two winners of Europe’s GT Academy program, Lucas Ordoñez (ESP, 2008 winner) and Jordan Tresson (FRA, 2010 winner).

“I’m so pleased that we got a good result in our first international 24 hour race,” said Bryan Heitkotter. “We’ve worked hard during the last six months to get to this point and I would say to anyone who wants this as much as I did that you can reach your goals if you focus on them and work hard.”

“That was without doubt the weekend of my life,” added Jann Mardenborough. “The only thing that compares to it is winning GT Academy last June. It feels like pure joy. This is just the first step for me and now I hope that my performance in Dubai can take me further.”

The first winner of GT Academy Europe, Lucas Ordoñez, started his international racing career in Dubai three years ago and so far his journey has taken him all the way to a class podium in the Le Mans 24 Hours. “This is a great moment,” said Ordoñez. “We have really proved that GT Academy works as to get four gamers to a podium finish at this race is amazing. I am very impressed with my new team mates who have only been racing for six months. They came here and were fast, consistent and didn’t make any mistakes.”

“It was pretty tough in the car and 24 hours is a long time to have to hold it all together,” said second GT Academy winner, Jordan Tresson. “If any of us had made just one slip at any point during the race it could have been game over for us. I want to say well done to Jann and Bryan who were still bedroom gamers just one year ago.”

The boss of the RJN GT Academy team, Bob Neville, was delighted to see the graduates that he has trained achieving an incredible result. “This is the first time that all four of my graduates have raced together so it is a special moment for me,” he said. “I couldn’t have asked for two better guys when Jann and Bryan won the European and USA competitions last summer. Like Lucas and Jordan before them they came into this with their eyes and ears open and absorbed everything we taught them. This race was the toughest test and they all passed with flying colors. I’m proud of them all and proud to be part of GT Academy.”