GT Academy winners announced

Two winners to join up with the Nissan racing team after a gruelling GT Academy Final at Silverstone, UK.

After five days of stern competition, including rigorous mental and physical tests under the scrutiny of experts, 28-year-old taxi driver, Lars Schlömer of Germany, and 23-year-old student Lucas Ordóñez, from Spain, have won the GT Academy Final.

"I can't believe it. This is a dream come true," said Ordóñez after lifting the trophy and earning a place on Nissan's driver training programme, as well as the opportunity to shine in the ultimate test of driving skill and stamina: the Dubai 24-hour endurance race in January 2009.

"I have wanted this for the last ten years of my life but I just never had the chance. I truly would have been heartbroken if I hadn't won," enthused Schlömer, who will now be driving cutting-edge racing cars instead of his taxi.

Emotions ran high as the winners were announced. Not only had both participants dreamed of becoming racing drivers, they had taken part in a gruelling week of driving assessments under the scrutiny of experts, early morning fitness tests and stiff competition from the best virtual racers in Europe.

British Formula One legend Johnny Herbert was on hand to mentor the finalists, and he was amazed by the overall standard. "Looking at the 22 GT Academy finalists for the first time," he said, "I was sure there would be a few with absolutely no feeling, who wouldn't make it out of second gear, but we didn't have one. This competition has far exceeded my expectations."

Speaking about the participants' journey from Gran Turismo 5 to the real life track, GT Academy Leader Steve Deeks said: "After this process I have been re-evaluating how we should teach young drivers and I would now recommend that people get into PlayStation before they come to us.

"All of these guys arrived at Silverstone knowing about sequential gearboxes, oversteer, understeer, driving lines etc. And the reaction time and ability to cope with the pressure they have had coming through the gaming part of the competition made them very well equipped from day one."

Look for interviews with the winners and progress updates, coming soon to eu.playstation.com, and for more information on GT Academy, head to www.gtacademy.eu. Also, look out for exclusive behind the scenes videos from the GT Academy Final, coming soon to PlayStation Store.