NORTHAMPTONSHIRE, England — The U.K.'s top three online racers will compete on a real track at Silverstone for a chance to be one of two drivers to join the Nissan team in the 2009 Dubai 24-hour race.
For the first time in the competition, contestants will move away from the virtual world and get behind the wheel of a real Nissan 350Z and GT-R. The gamers facing the difficult week of challenges are 25-year-old Matthew Gordon, a lawn specialist from Ipswich; John Cook, a 23-year-old Web designer from Tadworth; and Mark Perry, a 20-year-old kart racing director from Tamworth.
The contenders have already made it through the preliminaries to the National event, where the top 20 drivers competed at the 2008 British Auto Show on the Nissan stand for one of the three spots in the finals.
"Our finalists have proven they have what it takes online. Now they need to impress me and my fellow judges with their real-life skills," says Bob Neville of the Nissan Racing team.
They will train alongside the top three drivers from 10 other European countries, so the program will be especially rigorous: Fitness testing, media evaluations and numerous driving tests are all part of the training. At the end of the event, two drivers will be selected to begin four intense months of racing-driver education at the Nissan Race Academy to earn their official racing licenses.
What this means to you: If the contestants crash into a wall this time, they can't just hit the reset button. — Mike Lysaght, Correspondent
For the first time in the competition, contestants will move away from the virtual world and get behind the wheel of a real Nissan 350Z and GT-R. The gamers facing the difficult week of challenges are 25-year-old Matthew Gordon, a lawn specialist from Ipswich; John Cook, a 23-year-old Web designer from Tadworth; and Mark Perry, a 20-year-old kart racing director from Tamworth.
The contenders have already made it through the preliminaries to the National event, where the top 20 drivers competed at the 2008 British Auto Show on the Nissan stand for one of the three spots in the finals.
"Our finalists have proven they have what it takes online. Now they need to impress me and my fellow judges with their real-life skills," says Bob Neville of the Nissan Racing team.
They will train alongside the top three drivers from 10 other European countries, so the program will be especially rigorous: Fitness testing, media evaluations and numerous driving tests are all part of the training. At the end of the event, two drivers will be selected to begin four intense months of racing-driver education at the Nissan Race Academy to earn their official racing licenses.
What this means to you: If the contestants crash into a wall this time, they can't just hit the reset button. — Mike Lysaght, Correspondent
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