Wolfgang Reip supposedly dropped from NISMO team?

PD have the FIA thing now anyway, so losing GT Academy won't be an issue. Besides, I'd take an invite to the FIA banquet over a chance at winning a racing drive through a ridiculous reality show competition.
 
GTPorsche
PD have the FIA thing now anyway, so losing GT Academy won't be an issue. Besides, I'd take an invite to the FIA banquet over a chance at winning a racing drive through a ridiculous reality show competition.
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When you think about it, how many of us are willing to let our jelly rolls flop about on TV just to drive a car? :lol:

Seriously though, I do kinda agree.
 
GTPorsche
PD have the FIA thing now anyway, so losing GT Academy won't be an issue. Besides, I'd take an invite to the FIA banquet over a chance at winning a racing drive through a ridiculous reality show competition.
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Is the invite to the banquet confirmed as the prize? If it is, is it all expenses paid? Personally, I'd much rather see the prize be a trip to an event like Le Mans or Monaco as opposed to a banquet.
 
RACECAR
When you think about it, how many of us are willing to let our jelly rolls flop about on TV just to drive a car? :lol:

Seriously though, I do kinda agree.
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The very first year I thought it was a great idea... until I saw it in action. After that I just gave up on trying.
twitcher
Is the invite to the banquet confirmed as the prize? If it is, is it all expenses paid? Personally, I'd much rather see the prize be a trip to an event like Le Mans or Monaco as opposed to a banquet.
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The announcement did say the winner(s) would get their FIA trophy awarded to them at the end-of-year banquet.
 
Such a shame for all these talents. I imagine winning the competition would provide you with an entry into a stable career in motorsports. It just sounds too good to be true, and it's starting to show. I wonder how Kaz feels about this whole thing, I remember in the Kaz movie he said he views these GTA winners as PD's employees and he feels directly responsible for them.

IMO, PD should have kept it to 1 winner per year. Even with Nismo's downsizing I bet the event will still be more sustainable for a few more years to come.

So what's next? I'm 90% certain that there won't be GTA 2016 and the FIA competition will be the main event from now on. Maybe another manufacturer might take up sponsoring the event? Besides Toyota (Super GT, WEC) and Honda (Super GT, F1) I don't know if there are others with enough seats and exposure. A non-Japanese manufacturer seems like a stretch.
 
If anybody would take up the torch for GT Academy, it'd probably be either Mazda or Toyota. They both have a large involvement in motorsports. Mazda has lots of engine contracts and mini-series, while Toyota has done, well, everything. While Nissan may be cutting back, I haven't seen Mazda or Toyota slow down too much.
 
iName
If anybody would take up the torch for GT Academy, it'd probably be either Mazda or Toyota. They both have a large involvement in motorsports. Mazda has lots of engine contracts and mini-series, while Toyota has done, well, everything. While Nissan may be cutting back, I haven't seen Mazda or Toyota slow down too much.
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A former GT Academy USA finalist (Glenn McGee) got a ride with Mazda this year in the MX-5 cup series through iRacing. But I don't know if this is something that Mazda does every year.
 
GTPorsche
I still say the only ones that are safe are Jann and Lucas.
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Brian is listed on the PWC entry list so he should be safe for this year at least. Other than those three though it's not looking good.:nervous:
 
So here's our answer on remaining GT Academy drivers moving forward. (at least this year)

- Jann Mardenborough, Super GT GT300 / Japanese Formula 3
- Lucas Ordoñez, Blancpain GT Series (Endurance Pro)
- Ricardo Sánchez, Blancpain GT Series (Sprint Pro Silver Cup)
- Matt Simmons, Blancpain GT Series (Endurance Pro Am)
- Romain Sarazin, Blancpain GT Series (Endurance Pro Am)
- Bryan Heitkotter, Pirelli World Challenge
 
I'm watching old Blancpain races, what happened to Peter Pyzera? He's literally fallen of the face of the earth,

Yes I have used google and only got his Blancpain results...
 
TDZdave
I'm watching old Blancpain races, what happened to Peter Pyzera? He's literally fallen of the face of the earth,

Yes I have used google and only got his Blancpain results...
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I had no idea who he was until just now, and I try to stay current with GT Academy. He probably got dropped a while ago, his last tweet was in October of 2014...
 
Good to see. That's the thing, even though Nissan didn't re-sign these guys, they have plenty of talent and are bound to find a ride somewhere without much trouble.
 
I cant think of the drivers name who Wolfie was competing with for that Bentley seat, but apparently the other driver had alternative choices and wasn't to interested in the Bentley ride,

Though why you would disperse a championship winning team then sack one of them is beyond me,
 
As stated, I think this validates GT Academy in ways never thought possible. To have your former gamer-to-racer get picked up not just by another team, but one by that calibre is a huge show of confidence in their abilities.

The same goes for Paletou, who qualified on pole in the Ginetta G57 in VdeV this weekend.

Lets not forget that Jordan Tresson is involved in Lexus' GT3 development program with Emil Frey, though.
 
To be completely honest, I'm surprised they have kept a lot of these drivers around as long as they have. Wasn't the prize for winning GT Academy a drive at the Dubai 24HR, then Nissan would decide based on your performance there that you could get a 1-yr drive in Blancpain GT? After that it's not guaranteed they'll keep you around.

What GT Academy has now become and I'm certainly ok with, is a stepping stone into being a professional driver. Kind of a training ground where they bring you in, get you up to speed with being said professional driver, then after that it's up to you to keep yourself in the game.
 
As confirmed as you can get I think, glad to see the rest of the drivers have welcomed Wolfgang Reip very well,
 

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