Jose Gerard-Policarpio from the Philippines has won the opportunity of a lifetime at Silverstone today after being named the first-ever Nissan PlayStation® GT Academy Asia champion.

 The 26-year-old fought off competition from 28 of the best Gran Turismo® gamers from across Asia, winning a place on the Nissan Driver Development Programme and a race seat in the 2016 Dubai 24 Hours. The decision came after an epic six-day Race Camp, with Policarpio chosen as the winner for his consistently impressive performances throughout the week and a well-driven final race.

 Race Camp came to an end with a thrilling ten-lap race around Silverstone’s International Circuit in Nissan 370Z NISMO race cars which went right down to the last corner. Pole-sitter Andika Rama from Indonesia started the race well and led into the first corner, ahead of Policarpio from the Philippines who had leapfrogged Takuya Takahashi from Japan. Policarpio quickly got on the tail of Rama and for the first four laps the pair crossed the line separated by under a second with Takahasi settled in third just under two seconds behind. However after patiently waiting for his opportunity, Policarpio then made his move on the fifth lap to incisively take the lead of the race. Unfortunately the fifth lap proved to be the end of Takahashi’s race as he limped into the pits with a mechanical problem. This left Policarpio and Rama to fight it out unchallenged at the front, with the pair once again staying in very close proximity.

 The drama was saved for the last lap however with Policarpio getting a very slow exit out of Club corner, this left Rama right on his tail and after following him closely through Stowe, was poised to make a move into the final corner. Rama went for the move but some impressive defensive driving from Policarpio meant he held on and crossed the line just two-tenths clear of his rival.

 Jose Gerard Policarpio, Philippines competitor and 2015 GT Academy Asia Winner: “I can’t even believe I won, it’s amazing, I feel so good. Never in my life did I think I’d be here. The race was so nerve-racking, when I got past Andika at Abbey I just kept looking back because he was starting to gain on me. I didn’t even notice the checkered flag, it just sunk in when I got back in the pitlane that I won. It’s just amazing!”