All fans of driving games should be aware of this by now, but today marks the start of a most unique race. A seat in the Dubai 24 Hours has been the ultimate prize in all GT Academy events to date but today, for the first time, the car is driven exclusively by GT Academy alumni – with 2011 winners Bryan Heitkotter and Jann Mardenborough joining Jordan Tresson and Lucas Ordoñez behind the wheel of the RJN Motorsports Nissan 370Z.

The new GT5 downloadable content that leaked a few days ago was confirmed earlier today by the North American and European PlayStation Blogs, who provided a few more details and pricing information.

Prepare to have your wet-weather driving skills tested in one of the latest new GT5 Time Trials at Spa Francorchamps. Here’s a complete look at what’s new:

Apparent information about Gran Turismo 5’s third round of DLC has appeared here in GTPlanet’s forums. According to “Space Empire”, GT5’s 2.03 update will be launched on January 18th, and will include a few of the following new changes and features:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=08eA3364Hyk

With the 2012 Dubai 24 hour race fast approaching on 12-14th January, Nissan have published a “GT Academy: Road to Dubai” video serial that’s been broadcast on EuroSport since last September.

“Gran Turismo 5 XL Edition” has been listed in online stores for a few weeks, and today, Sony has officially announced the product. In doing so, they’ve cleared up a lingering question about the DLC “voucher” that’s included with XL:

More information about the recently-leaked “Gran Turismo 5 XL Edition” has just been posted by online retailer NewEgg. From the product description:

The latest addition to GT5’s Seasonal Events roster has just gone live, this time featuring 750PP cars without any further restrictions. The races are:

In addition to the all-GT Academy team campaigning in the Dubai 24hrs this month, Signatech Nissan team boss Philippe Sinault has announced his intended driver line-up for the 2012 World Endurance Championship:

U.S. GT Academy winner Bryan Heitkotter recently sat down for an in-depth one-on-one video interview with InsideSimRacing‘s Darin Gangi. Bryan discusses his background, what it was really like to come up through the ranks of GT Academy USA, and how he’s making the most out of his time with Nissan in preparations for the 24 Hours of Dubai.

2011 has been yet another rollercoaster year for Gran Turismo and its fans, and our first full year of GT5. The year has been dominated by game updates, GT Academy successes and significant events affecting the infrastructure of both the PlayStation Network and the people of Japan. Just as with the last two years, GTPlanet is taking a look back over the last 12 months before we head on into 2012…

Amongst the listed changes for GT5’s v2.02 update earlier this month was an adjustment to the tire wear speed. Up until this point players had been used to the three tyre compounds within each grade – Racing, Sports and Comfort – wearing at relatively similar rates while offering different outright grip levels. The soft tires were the racers’ obvious choice for grip without a tire life penalty.

Work on the third issue of the popular grass-roots “GTlife” magazine (the first two issues received over 230,000 collective downloads) is now complete!

In a Christmas Day surprise, Newegg, Amazon, and Buy.com have revealed a mysterious new game: Gran Turismo 5 XL Edition. Both Amazon and Newegg list a release date of January 17, 2012 and a price of $39.99 USD, but offer no further details on what this “XL Edition” will actually contain.

It’s that time of year again, where the GTPlanet community comes together for the greater good!