Lallave tops first GT Academy PH qualifiers

The Nissan GT Academy Philippines officially concluded its first live recruitment event in the global search for the next gamer to race driver at the Glorietta 5 Activity Center in Makati City. Two-time AutoIndustriya.com Gran Turismo 5 Challenge Champion Terence Lallave topped the first weekend of the Nissan GT Academy qualifiers with a 1:03.096 best laptime.

Twenty-nine-year-old Lallave is an avid car enthusiast and gamer has been a fan of the Gran Turismo franchise. He has long been wanting to qualify for the program since it was launched in 2008. Unfortunately, the Playstation Network does not support the Philippines, so qualifying online from the Philippines was not possible.

"I hope to make it to the national finals and eventually the elusive Top 6 who will represent the country in Silverstone. I am really thankful that Nissan Philippines has brought what used to be a dream to our country. It has long been a dream of mine to become a real race car driver," said Lallave.

Nissan GT Academy is a partnership by the automaker’s motorsport arm Nismo along with Sony’s Gran Turismo to develop professional race drivers from the racing simulation title. It has since fielded "Nismo athletes" to events like the 24 Hours of Le Mans, Dubai 24 Hours, Nurburgring 24 Hours, Bathurst 24 Hours and other prestigious events.

Nissan Philippines officially launched the local GT Academy program in late March with live recruitment events from April until June 2015. The Top 20 qualifiers at the end of the recruitment period will advance to the National Finals. The 6 best drivers in the National Finals will represent the Philippines in the international event at the Silverstone Circuit in the UK.