Gran Turismo Academy

From Top Gear
http://www.topgear.com/content/news/stories/2825/?text

Fancy winning a real-life drive in a Nissan 350Z at the 24 hour endurance race in Dubai?

Yep, so do we.

Everyone thinks that because they're good on a games console that they'll be good in real life, too. Well, here's your chance to prove it.

Gran Turismo Academy is a bit of a PR stunt obviously, but Nissan has teamed up with PlayStation to create an eight-month, pan-European competition that will blur the lines between virtual and real racing.

First off there's going to be a national level tournament online through Gran Turismo Prologue, that leads to European winners going head-to-head at the real Silverstone.

This culminates in the two eventual winners taking part in a four-month training course to earn their real-life racing licences.

After that, the racing begins proper in Dubai in January 2009.

If you want to get involved, GT Academy goes live at the end of May, and you need to sign up via your PS3 on the PlayStation Network.

Chances are that TG staffer Bill Thomas is doing it right now.