Steve Doherty

Nissan will begin the search for an American star to join its new LM P1 Le Mans 24 Hour and FIA World Endurance Championship team, giving a former gamer the opportunity to graduate to the highest levels of the sport.

2012 GT Academy U.S. champion Steven Doherty scored a first-in-class victory in the final race of the Pirelli World Challenge while behind the wheel of his #94 Skullcandy Team Nissan TC Altima.

It’s been a while, but we’re back bearing gifts, GT Academy champion interviews! We get all TMZ on the two latest American Champions and dig into their psyches! Or just talk a lot about racing, Gran Turismo, preparing for this year’s Academy, and such…

Nissan GT Academy U.S. champions Bryan Heitkotter and Steve Doherty will team up behind the wheel of a Nissan Altima for the remainder of the 2014 Continental Tire SportsCar Challenge (CTSCC) racing season in the No. 34 Street Touring (ST) class CA Sport/Skullcandy machine. This weekend, the duo will take on an always crowded field at the Monterey Grand Prix at historic Laguna Seca Raceway in California.

The second race of the United SportsCar Championship is the first race for Jann Mardenborough in the US. And he really has his work cut out for him as a rookie at the notoriously bumpy and difficult Florida circuit.

The live build team is making progress on the exact replica of Mario Andretti’s ’48 Hudson race car. It’s been painted and is ready to enter the final stage of the build in preparation for its formal reveal to Mario and its eventual launch in GT6.

In a weekend busy enough to merit its own Twitter hashtag, the Nismo Athletes have been showing off their skills over seventeen timezones.

On the eve of the highly anticipated Gran Turismo 6 demo and the start of GT Academy 2013, 2012 champion Steven Doherty offers some advice and behind-the-scenes insight into what it’s like to win the competition in an exclusive interview with GTPlanet.

Not to be outdone by the exploits of Jann Mardenborough and Lucas Ordoñez at Le Mans last week, the newest Nismo Athletes scored some more track success of their own in the Blancpain Endurance Series round from Paul Ricard.

Jann Mardenborough got the Nismo Athletes’ season underway with a three race round of the European Formula 3 series at Monza.

With the 2013 motorsport season getting underway, 2012’s final GT Academy champions have yet to be decided as eight Middle East and eight South African gamers head to a Silverstone showdown.

As part of a large Nissan Motorsport announcement at the opening of the new Nismo headquarters, the most recent graduates have had their 2013 seasons revealed.

The GT Academy team has once again scored a podium finish in the season opening Dubai 24 Hours, bettering last year‘s finish by one place.

As I’m sure we’re all aware by now, the Dubai 24 Hours represents the annual “final” prize for GT Academy. The 2013 race is less than a week away from us and the 2012 winners have been allocated their seats for this year’s race, each looking to better last year’s podium result.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=Kpna1qfO31g