Bromley man on the fast track to racing success
Bromley sportscar enthusiast, James Hudson, will compete in the UK GT Academy National Finals next month, after winning a unique ‘Wild Card’ competition hosted by Nissan and Sony Computer Entertainment UK.
James, 29, battled against some of the best gamers in the UK at the Nissan Innovation Station at The O2 last weekend to win his chance in the GT Academy (GTA), an innovative contest that aims to turn virtual motorists into real racing drivers.
As a long-time Nissan connoisseur, Mr Hudson has owned a total of nine Nissan 200SX and Skyline sportscars. He said: “It has been a complete honour competing against such accomplished and brilliant gamers; it was a neck-and-neck battle to the end. I am so lucky to have this amazing opportunity to compete in the GT Academy National Finals.”
Competitors in the ‘Wild Card’ contest competed on PlayStation3 race pods over three days, with their best lap of three entered. Each day, the best times were recorded and winners awarded a Logitech Driving Force GT steering wheel and Nissan merchandise.
Mr Hudson’s lap time of 2m13.97s around Japanese Grand Prix circuit, Suzuka, using the legendary Nissan GT-R, was the best overall and he will now join the top 20 online gamers from the official UK Time Trial at the National Finals in May.
Mr Hudson said: “Nissan’s sportscars have been a big part of my life for the last nine years and they are one of the reasons I wanted to be involved in GT Academy. Nissan is as good as it gets, as far as I am concerned and I can’t wait to see what I can bring to the track when I get in the car.
“Jordan [Tresson, 2010 GTA winner] and Lucas are excellent drivers and have become my idols. I like to champion the underdog and both of these guys have proven that, through hard work and lots of drive, you can be a racing success.”
The virtual-to-real-racer GT Academy has been contested across 10 European countries over the last month. With the opportunity to become a real racing driver at stake, virtual racers must sign up on gran-turismo.com to participate – the Tim Trial competition ends on midnight 17 April.
