Gran Turismo: Marketing stunt or real champion, the story of Jann Mardenborough

The Nissan GT Academy competition has changed the destiny of many virtual driving aces, offering the winners of each edition the start of a career as a professional driver with the Japanese manufacturer. In 2011, it was Jann Mardenborough's turn to take a completely different turn from the engineering career that was looming before him.

And if the film Gran Turismo – in theaters this Wednesday, August 9 – heroically retraces the rise of the young simulator champion who became a racing driver, has the video game really given rise to new stars in the sport? The opportunity to decipher a career with unusual beginnings.

Trailer for the film Gran Turismo

Mardenborough's debut with the Japanese team is promising, having barely graduated from this online competition on the Gran Turismo game, the Briton takes a class podium during the 24 Hours of Dubai in GT3, before signing 6th place in the same championship with his teammate, Alex Buncombe, in 2012.

Positive results which suggest the possibility of performing in higher categories. However, when its first turns wheels in car see him confront the best hopes of motorsport, the results are less brilliant. Engaged in Formula 3 with Carlin in 2013, he was faced with a range of young drivers whose experience amounted to much more than hours spent on a simulator.

Mardenborough participated in more than 40 races, and although he finished 6th in his national championship, his European campaign ended with a 21st place in the standings, while his participation in the Master of Formula race did not earn him any points.

His class podium at the 24 Hours of Le Mans Despite everything, he recovered his season's results, and the Briton signed in GP3 the following year with Arden. This second single-seater campaign ends with a victory, his one and only in the category, while he will not manage to do so during his few appearances in GP2.

In the following years, Mardenborough distinguished itself with a second place in the winter championship Toyota Racing Series, as well as in Japanese F3. His passage in Super GT as well as in Super Formula having yielded nothing except one or the other podium.

The most notable event of his career unfortunately remains his tragic accident in 2015. Participating in a VLN championship race Endurance at the Nürburgring, his car takes off and lands in the crowd, killing a spectator. Now aged 31, the Darlington native is no longer involved in a motor racing program.

More success for other winners?

Not really. Other winners of this competition performed more or less anonymously in sport at the end of the nine editions which took place between 2008 and 2016. Among them, some like Lucas Ordóñez stood out from the crowd. Winner of the first edition, the Spaniard has two podiums in LM P2 at Le Mans, as well as some notable performances in Super GT. Wolfgang Reip has also distinguished himself numerous times in endurance races, including a class podium at Le Mans and victory at the Bathurst 12 Hours, as well as a Blancpain GT Series Endurance Cup title. 

Coming back to the film, the terms “great champion” of car racing should therefore be taken with a grain of salt, although it is not surprising to find them in the context of the promotion of such a work. And if we must give Mardenborough the credit for having succeeded in his reconversion as a professional driver, monitoring the careers of those who have tamed the Nissan GT Academy demonstrates, despite the success of some, that no one has yet passed from PlayStation champion to Lewis Hamilton in a few months or even years of training.

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