NISSAN GT ACADEMY NATIONAL FINALS: RACE TO SILVERSTONE, U.K.

The race to win the top six slots to the UK is on. Since its launch on March 25, the Nissan GT Academy Philippine edition has seen over 15,000 virtual racers from Metro Manila, Bacolod, Cebu, Davao and Cagayan De Oro out-race each other in over 30,000 trials held over the course of over twenty Live Events during its three-month run. And out of that field emerged the country’s first Top Twenty contestants who will have to battle it out in the National Finals this July 14 to 15 at the CCP parking lot and the SM Mall of Asia Atrium.

The Top Twenty finalists are Francisco Adriano, Joel Agojo, Paolo Vittorio Alcance, Daryl Brady, Rabboni John Buenaventura, Luis Raphael Cachero, Kim Jiger Chong, Juan Carlos Eejay de Borja, Ramoncito de Luna, Rodolfo Faustino, Rio Halili, Richard Dean Jose, Jan Millard Lacuna, Terence Aldrich Lallave, Rafael Miru Lesaguis, Luis Antonio Moreno, Cameron Jordan Padillo, Jose Gerald Policarpio, Mark Angelo Villamor, and Michael Vincent Yap.

“At this point, our finalists will undergo not just actual driving challenges using real cars, but will also go through a series of physical, mental and personality challenges,” SJ Huh, Nissan Philippines, Inc. (NPI) General Manager for Marketing, said.

The physical challenges will test the finalists’ fitness level, as they will be made to hurdle tests such as the sergeant jump, planking, push ups and the bleep test. A driving challenge, with Mr. George Ramirez as the instructor, follows, after which the initial results will be tallied.

The following day will have all twenty finalists starting afresh at the simulator pods, where they will undergo ten pod time attack challenges of three rounds each. Their pod performance will be rated for the best lap time, consistency and super pole times. Afterwards, the finalists will face a panel interview by select members of the media as part of the personality challenge. After all the results are tabulated, the top six finishers will be announced and presented to the public and members of media in attendance.

“The final Top Six candidates who successfully hurdle all these challenges can look forward to flying to the Silverstone Race Circuit in UK in August, and compete in the GT Academy Asia leg.” Huh said. All six will then battle it out against each other and other Asian representatives including Thailand, India, Japan and Indonesia, both on and off the real-world track, this time, using real-world race cars.

Serving as their coach, mentor and guest judge will be Filipino-Swiss Lotus F1 Junior Team race car driver Marlon Stockinger.

“While I am happy to share my knowledge and experience in racing, nothing beats the contestant’s determination and drive to succeed in this demanding sport,” Stockinger said.

For his part, NPI President and Managing Director Antonio Zara said, “We’re happy to be giving aspiring racers and gamers the opportunity to turn their dreams into reality. By democratizing motorsports in the country, we help fast-track the dreams of more potential Filipino racers to reach the international racing arena.”

Catch the thrilling conclusion of Nissan’s search for the first Filipino contender to the international racing circuit scene; come and cheer for your bet as they face-off for the ultimate chance to race to their dream career as professional race car drivers.

###

About Nissan Philippines, Inc.

Nissan Philippines, Inc. (NPI) is the sole national sales company of Nissan in the Philippines which started its operations in 2014. NPI is responsible for strengthening brand, marketing and sales strategy, and dealer operations in the Filipino market.

Nissan ranked the highest in customer satisfaction with after-sales service among new vehicle owners according to the J.D. Power Asia Pacific 2014 Philippines Customer Service Index (CSI) Study.

For more information on our products and services, visit our website at www.nissan.ph.

Local Media Contacts:
Dax Avenido
Email: dax.avenido@nissan.ph
Tel: +632 230 6056

Rosario Ysmael - Palanca
Email: rosary@adspin.com.ph
Tel: +632 895 9823