It’s a given: you have to have a professional driver’s license, lots of experience, excellent driving skills, and full commitment. What if we tell you that you can become the next Lewis Hamilton or Sabine Schmitz just by playing a game of Gran Turismo on your Playstation? It doesn’t matter if you’re currently a bus driver, a regular motorist, or a mean console gamer – male or female.
Aside from your license, all you need right now are your guts and a dream. Here are a few unconventional steps that you can take to prepare for that dream.
4 Steps on How to Prepare for Professional Racecar Driving
4. Say “I do” to a professional racing career.
According to many aficionados and racecar drivers, becoming a professional racecar driver is like going to war. It will take your time away from your loved ones. It will demand for your physical, mental, emotional, and psychological toughness. It will require you to resign from your day job. You may even have to let go of your SO.
In other words, you must be willing to drop everything in your life right now and start filling up with a tank of adrenaline. If you see a future behind the racing wheels, don’t be afraid to make that commitment.
Nissan Philippines’ Antonio Zara says it’s about time we discover Filipino racecar drivers from the grassroots.
3. Practice on the couch.
Virtual racing games like Gran Turismo are very popular among gamers for their life-like graphics and realistic car specs and race circuits. The GT game by Sony Playstation is now on its 6th edition and is proving to be mind-blowing in its effects and near-life experience. It’s the closest thing to being in an actual race driving your favorite racecar.
Playstation’s race pod looks like it’s ready to roll.
I must say, this race pod is absolutely awesome!
2. Watch a reality show.
Those who are in the US or in the UK may be familiar with the GT Academy reality TV show where aspiring racecar drivers compete and learn from professionals in a race camp. They run, ride a bike, crawl through mud, and all other tough challenges that is a combination of a navy seals training and survivor. Professional racecar drivers serve as mentors and judges. As the camp goes on and competitors are eliminated, the toughest ones get to drive and race GT cars on a race track. The end goal? To eventually become a professional racecar driver who will have the rare chance to compete in international race circuits from Dubai to Le Mans.
Hearts started racing — at least among the ladies in the launch event — when GTA international champion Ricardo Sanchez posed for the cameras.
1. Get off the couch and get to the circuit.
The good news is: the 7-year old Nissan GT Academy has finally reached Philippine shores. For the first time in the history of the game, six Filipinos will get the chance to compete for the ultimate dream. A virtual-to-pro racing challenge by Nissan and Playstation, Nissan GT Academy opens up a rare chance for a Pinoy to go for a series of intense challenges in Britain’s home of motor racing, the Silverstone Racing Circuit UK.
Laurence Wiltshire, managing director of GTA Global, believes the Philippines has a place in the racing world.
You can come up with all the clichés you can think of, but you know that opportunities like this only come once in a lifetime. This is no longer just a game, but the real deal staring you straight in the face. Feel the noise of the race circuit and the roar of your favorite racing machine. You could be the first Filipino to be part of a Nismo racing team.
Nissan GT Academy
Contact: Sara de Guzman
Email: sara.deguzman@nissan.ph
https://www.facebook.com/NissanPhilippinesInc?fref=ts
