World Endurance Championship This article is more than 9 years oldJann Mardenborough reaches top with Nissan from virtual video game grid
This article is more than 9 years old 23-year-old British driver will race in top prototype class at Le Mans 24 HoursMardenborough will compete against former F1 driver Mark Webber
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From PlayStation to racing driver: in his own words
Jann Mardenborough, the British driver who entered professional motor racing having won a video game competition has been given one of the top rides in modern motorsport, a full season driving the new Nissan prototype in the FIA World Endurance Championship.
Securing the drive with Nissan is an extraordinary achievement for the 23-year-old, who only four years ago was contemplating university when he won the Nissan-sponsored PlayStation Academy competition that uses Sony’s Gran Turismo game. He duly received his training and when he scored a podium at the Dubai 24 Hours in April 2012, it was clear the unusual route into racing that Sony and Nissan were promoting had uncovered a real talent.
Mardenborough has been a Nissan-sponsored driver since then and gone from strength to strength. He has scored a podium and a fifth place in the second tier LMP2 class at the Le Mans 24 Hours – which is the centrepiece and blue-riband event of the WEC – and, having been signed to the Red Bull principal Christian Horner’s Arden International team for the GP3 series last year, scored his first win at Hockenheim in his debut season.
“I want to show that there is a different route to the top of motorsport, than just years and years of expensive go karting, by winning at Le Mans,” said Mardenborough. “It’s an honour for me to be chosen to compete in LMP1 for Nissan. I have raced at Le Mans twice in LMP2 so I have seen the current LMP1 cars at very close quarters out on the track. To think I will be racing one this year is very exciting.”
The step up to the top LMP1 category is huge for Mardenborough. Having last competed for the win at le Mans in 1999, Nissan are re-entering endurance sportscar racing as a manufacturer with the GT-R LM Nismo, a prototype that takes advantage of the more flexible rules in the WEC, as compared to those in F1, that allows manufacturers considerable leeway in design and technology.
Their car is a quite radical front-engined, front-wheel-drive prototype, designed to release energy from the hybrid system as quickly as possible and thus features 14-inch tyres at the front with just nine inches of rubber in the rear, unlike any of its competitors on the grid. These rivals include full factory entries from Audi, Porsche and Toyota, the latter two boasting Mark Webber and Anthony Davidson as drivers.
All four manufacturers will enter two cars each for the WEC, and Nissan, Audi and Porsche will enter three per team at the Le Mans 24 Hours. Nissan will put the 2008 GT Academy winner Lucas Ordóñez, who has also proved his worth as driver in his own right, into their third car at Le Mans.
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