Nissan's message to video gamers: simulated racing may "pay off"

It may be possible that some of the future auto racers may emerge from today's video gamers. At least this is what the GT Academy winner Bryan Heitkotter thinks. He believes that simulated racing develops skills similar to real racing experience. Nissan, who's GT-R Black Edition was included as one of the 4 car packs in GT Academy's December 2011 release for Sony PS3, posted Heitkotter's February remarks on its Facebook wall.

"I think the GT Academy has kind of legitimized the simulated racing as a potential route in the motor sports. You know, there not always a crossover between the two, depending on the driver, but there can be quite a bit. Most drivers who take simulated racing seirously, you know, for a few years, will have the skills to transfer them into real car. And I think we will start seeing more of that as simulated racing gets more realistic over time," Heitkotter said answering a question from Facebook.

As we mentioned Nissan entered GT Academy in its second downloadable pack for PlayStation 3. According to Wikipedia, Nissan Leaf is in the 3rd downloadable pack among some other cars.

"There is also a third downloadable-content pack with the track "Route X" and a third car pack including Nissan Leaf G 2011, Aston Martin V12 Vantage 2010, Volkswagen Beetle 1200 1966, Jaguar XJR-9 LM Racecar 1988, Lamborghini Aventador LP700-4 2011, and the Mini Mini Cooper S Countryman (R60) 2011. All released on January 17, 2012," Wikipedia's Gran Turismo 5 article reads.