The final online qualification round of GT Academy 2014 kicks off today, as the time trial which will be used to determine who moves on to regional finals around the world.

One final update for GT5 has been released, version 2.16. This update modifies the game to function without connectivity to online services, which have now been discontinued.

http://youtu.be/fuNIa7Vwbf8

A new version of Gran Turismo 6, update 1.08, has just been released – and it’s a big one! Weighing in at 1.4GB (with a 20+ minute installation time), it brings the highly anticipated Ayrton Senna Tribute content and a surprise in the form of an all-new Vision GT car.

We’re back! For the past two weeks the Weekly Rewind has taken a much needed backseat to the endless assault of news over the past couple of weeks. If you haven’t been keeping an eye on the endlessly-updating Status Updates on the forum page, then you may very well have missed the Weekly Rewind Miniature Edition that has taken the place of the full-featured article here for the past two weeks.

As you’ve probably heard by now, the original GT Academy star will be taking center stage at one of the world’s most prominent racing events – the 24 Hours of Le Mans – and he’ll be doing it in grand style, behind the wheel of the radical Nissan ZEOD hybrid-electric race car.

Polyphony Digital has announced an online service maintenance period for Gran Turismo 6, expected to begin on Friday, May 30th, at 04:00 GMT/UTC (click here to convert that to your local time).

The Volkswagen Vision GT car was formally unveiled in the “real world” at the Wörthersee GTI Meeting in Austria today, and Kazunori Yamauchi himself was on hand to launch the car with the executives and designers from VW. The car will be playable in GT6 “mid-June”.

This guest contribution is by Nick McMillen, 2013 United States GT Academy Champion. This is the account of his journey as one of the newest Nismo Athletes. Stay tuned for future articles from our racing driver contributor coming soon as he experiences and progresses through his professional career.

As most readers will recall, the Ayrton Senna Tribute content was originally set for release in GT6 today. Unfortunately, a few regional licensing issues have complicated a simultaneous worldwide launch of the new content, but don’t worry – it will arrive before the end of this week, as I learned after speaking with SCEA today.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bOWpE9k7U_8

It’s time for one of the biggest online races of the year – the PlaySeat Challenge, hosted by GTPlanet and streamed live on YouTube’s leading car video network, GT Channel!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LtCmK_gugpE

Volkswagen has revealed the final image of their VisionGTI vehicle on their official Facebook page. The car will make its debut at the Woerthersee Festival on May 28th.

If you’re in an eligible European country, there’s a new way to qualify for GT Academy 2014, and you don’t even need a PlayStation 3 or a copy of GT6 – just a Facebook account!

The latest Seasonal Events are now available in Gran Turismo 6, featuring three new time trial events, albeit with a slight twist. This week’s challenges are exclusive to Front-Drive and 4WD non-racing cars, the Toyota 86 or Subaru BRZ non-racing cars, and the Nissan Silvia.

The latest Ayrton Senna Tribute video teaser has been officially released by Polyphony Digital, and it includes our first in-game look at some of the new content, including Senna’s Lotus 97T and 1978 DAP Kart.

After working closely with Polyphony Digital over the past few weeks, I am excited to announce that Kazunori Yamauchi will be answering a selection of the most popular questions posted in a special forum here on GTPlanet.

It’s time to submit your qualifying time for the PlaySeat Challenge!

Round 3 of GT Academy’s online qualification round officially kicks off today, bringing us one step closer to the final time trial which will ultimately determine who moves on to the national finals.