Nissan

Well that was unexpected. After revealing the bonkers Evo VI Time Attack car yesterday, Slightly Mad Studios is at it again today with more cars set for inclusion in this year’s Project CARS 2.

As the release of Slightly Mad Studios’ Project CARS 2 edges closer and closer with each passing day, the marketing team has taken to the social media channels in full effect, giving us an insight as to what cars are coming into the new sim-racing title.

The driver slots for the 2017 Super GT season are steadily filling up. Although the class GT300 remains to be fully completed, drivers for the class GT500 are already known. One of them is Jann Mardenborough, the talented GT Academy alumni who will compete under supervision of the Team Impul Calsonic. With the help of his co-driver Hironobu Yasuda, Jann will be steering the wheels of the Nissan GT-R (#12), painted in highly recognizable blue livery.

Nismo holds annual festivals to celebrate Nissan’s history and presence in the world of motorsports, allowing people to meet famous drivers and get closer to the company’s most famous racing machines. At this year’s festival, Jann Mardenborough was given the opportunity to drive a lap around Fuji Speedway behind the wheel of the monstrous Group C Nissan R92CP.

A fractious Liqui-Moly Bathurst 12 Hour was not what many were expecting given the talent on show this year, but the action turned out to be fast and furious. This was an endurance race, but every hour of the twelve on offer had its fair share of action.

The season finale of the Pirelli World Challenge took place last earlier this month at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca. While the hunt for the title was essentially a two-horse race between McLaren pilot Alvaro Parente and Porsche driver Patrick Long, few would have predicted quite how the final standings would shake out. Parente emerged victorious, snatching the title from the 2011 winner as well as putting an end to Johnny O’Connell’s four-year-strong title run with Cadillac.

We’re sure many of us have some annoyances about certain things — commonly referred to as pet peeves — that puts us in great discomfort every time we think about it. Everyone’s got something that makes them tick, so it shouldn’t be unusual to hear even racing drivers have a few of their own, as they often find themselves in rough and seemingly merciless conditions. NISMO TV has a sampling of the personal bugbears its racing drivers grapple with, including GT Academy grads.

The penultimate round of the Pirelli World Challenge took place a few weeks ago at the sunny, rolling hills of Sonoma Raceway. Continuing a trend set by GT Academy grad Bryan Heitkotter at the previous race weekend in Utah, veteran GM racer Johnny O’Connell swept both races in California in his bright red Cadillac ATS-V.R.

Nissan GT Academy Team RJN has successfully scored a podium placement at the final race of the 2016 Blancpain GT Series Endurance Cup, held at Nurburgring GP circuit last weekend. This is the first podium position for the team in the series, brought by athletes Lucas Ordonez, Alex Buncombe and Mitsunori Takaboshi in the Pro Cup class.

According to an official NISMO Facebook post and AutoDeal, the currently-underway 2016 GT Academy season has found its first dozen Silverstone-bound finalists. This selection of drivers from North Africa and Philippines will compete in the International Race Camp this October at the famed British circuit.

Last weekend saw a landmark achievement for one of the most promising graduates from the GT Academy programme, as the 2011 U.S. winner Bryan Heitkotter was able to to take his first overall win in professional motorsport — which was then swiftly backed up by a second win the day after.

Yes, it’s been officially confirmed on the NISMO Facebook profile page: GT Academy has enrolled into another season of close online competitions that will try to track down talented drivers over the next several months. Although a significant number of countries won’t be supported on the initial run of the 2016 season, players residing in few select ones will get an exclusive chance to test-drive the upcoming GT Sport before everyone else.

GT Academy, the notable racing program made as a result of cooperation between Nissan and PlayStation, quickly gained recognition for offering PlayStation and Gran Turismo users an opportunity to take part in real racing. Currently running strong in its 8th year of existence, the program has life in it yet as, according to recent news, there are more things to come.

Revealed yesterday the Nissan GT-R 2017 is an absolute beauty. Slightly tweaking the iconic design of previous models, the new bodykit and vastly improved interior has car fanatics drooling. Those wondering about the vehicle’s digital debut need worry no more – EA’s Need for Speed has the honors of putting the latest GT-R in player hands around the world.

Following on from the Nismo mention of the program last week, GT Academy held a press event yesterday in Egypt. Taking place at the Autovrooom track in Cairo (Facebook link if you have a particularly strong interest in the Sunny and/or Juke), few details were released, though GTPlanet member (and 2015 GTA North African champion) sems4arsenal was present. Much as the case was last year, expect some changes to the format…

It wasn’t all sunshine and smiles in Florida this past weekend. After a solid season opener the week before in Texas, Heitkotter and teammate JD Davison faced stiff competition on the tight street circuit of a cloudy St. Petersburg. While outright victory would evade the GT-R’s in Florida, the two drivers made points progress nonetheless, including a podium finish.

So far in 2016, GT Academy’s fortunes have not been the brightest. One of the program’s prime proponents, Darren Cox, left parent company Nissan last fall. Shortly after that, the company unceremoniously shuttered it’s front-engine prototype program. More bad news arrived last month, when word got out that successful GTA grad Wolfgang Reip’s contract wasn’t renewed for 2016, which was shortly followed by similar news for multiple previous winners.

The Pirelli World Challenge season got underway this past weekend, bringing more success for GT Academy grads and Nissan’s 2016 motorsports teams. Bryan Heitkotter was bumped up to the top GT class in the PWC mid-season last year, where he ended the series in a respectable 10th place. For 2016 however, Bryan started on an equal footing against other professional drivers, and wasted no time establishing himself as a contender with an award-winning drive in Texas on Saturday.