GT Academy 2011 Race Camp to start at the world famous Circuit de la Sarthe 19-year-old Jann Mardenborough from Cardiff and 29-year-old James Hudson from Bromley to represent the UK Nissan and Sony Computer Entertainment Europe (SCEE) have announced that the curtain raiser for the international GT Academy ‘Race Camp’ will take place at the 2011 Le Mans 24 Hour race. The 12 European finalists will all be hoping to follow in the footsteps of Lucas Ordoñez, the winner of the first instalment of GT Academy in 2008. The Spanish student graduated from his PlayStation®3 console to commence his racing career at the Dubai 24 Hours. Three years later and Lucas will line up to compete in one of the greatest races of all – the Le Mans 24 Hours - behind the wheel of the Signatech Nissan LMP2 Prototype.With the National Finals from around Europe complete, SCEE and Nissan’s talent-spotting initiative that uses the Gran Turimso®5 game to unearth a real racing driver, now reaches the international ‘Race Camp’ phase. The first GT Academy International contest will be staged at Le Mans, but the task will not be revealed until the competitors arrive at the world famous Circuit de la Sarthe.A dedicated camp site at Le Mans will be home for the weekend for the European GT Academy competitors representing France, Germany, Italy, Netherlands, Portugal, Spain and the UK. The competition will see the eventual winner being trained up to international race licence standards to compete in the prestigious Dubai International 24 Hour race in January, 2012, in a full race-spec Nissan 370Z GT4 car.The Lucas success story has turned him into a cult figure within the gaming community. All of this year’s international GT Academy finalists can gain inspiration from Lucas when they meet him during a garage tour of the Signatech Nissan LMP2 team, before they prepare to cheer on their hero and soak up the magic of the 79th Le Mans 24 Hour Race.Lucas Ordoñez said: “I am feeling really excited at the prospect of being a part of a race that holds so much history and significance. There is a lot of training and preparation that goes in from myself, the team and my teammates to get ready for what is definitely the most demanding race in the world for both the drivers and cars.”Ordoñez added: “I do appreciate that it was GT Academy that gave me my first opportunity for developing a career in motor sport. I now hope people can recognise the hard work I have put into progressing my career to this stage. However, you can’t change all the old habits. I have been using the Gran Turismo 5 game to get familiar with the Circuit de la Sarthe. I am really looking forward to meeting the GT Academy international finalists. For this year’s international final to start at Le Mans, will do doubt make their experience even more special.”After the Le Mans activities, the competitors will head to Silverstone Circuit for the final four-days of ‘Race Camp’. Silverstone’s top-level race instructors will put the gamers through a gruelling schedule of fitness, mental and driving challenges in a range of high performance cars, including the Nissan GT-R and the 370Z.