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A Melbourne student has not only won the trip of a lifetime, but might even have the job of a lifetime.
25-year-old Melbourne student Daniel Holland has won the right to represent Australia in Nissan GT Academy International stage with the trip to Silverstone in Great Britain, to complete race driver boot camp GT Academy.
And that’s not all. The win means Holland as the potential to win season-long drive in a full race-spec Nissan 370Z in the European GT4 Cup racing series.
Sponsored by Sony Computer Entertainment Australia, this is the first time an Australian will be represented in the competition which will see him go head-to-head against other finalists across 17 countries.
Holland will undergo a rigorous training program against other competitors for the chance to become a real world race car driver. Australia holds promise to be a tough competitor in the next stage. Holland consistently recorded top ranking lap times on the international leader board during the online round of the competition, to secure his place in the national final.
Daniel will join other finalists from competing countries at the world famous Silverstone circuit for the Nissan GT Academy – a five-day, comprehensive race driver ‘boot camp’. Participants will have the chance to develop new driving skills through a series of online and off-line challenges that will include handling of Nissan cars and will also be judged on physical fitness and mental aptitude.
The two finalists that display the talent, fitness, aptitude, drive and determination to succeed in motor sport, will undergo a UK-based intensive driving and racing programme to prepare them to qualify for an international racing license. Finally, the driver with the most potential will compete on an international stage, racing a full season in the European GT4 Cup in a Nissan 370Z prepared by RJN Motorsport in May, 2010.
“GT Academy epitomises the Sony make.believe spirit, the power of turning dreams into reality” said Raoul Bedford, Senior Director Marketing, SCE Australia. “From enjoying Gran Turismo on PlayStation in your living room, to perfecting the ultimate simulator game and aspiring to become a real life race car driver, PlayStation and Nissan have given Daniel Holland the opportunity to fulfil his dream through GT Academy.”
