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A former journalist with a Wheels24's sister publication, TopCar, has won the 2013 Nissan GT academy.
Ashley Oldfield has emerged as the overall winner of the Nissan and PlayStation GT Academy in South Africa, out-performing thousands of South African hopefuls.
Oldfield, who was working for a Wheels24's sister publication, TopCar, when he entered the competition, went to Silverstone in England for the GT Academy "Race Camp" where he raced against and beat seven other South African hopefuls and is now starting a professional racing career.
Oldfield is now involved in a host of motorsport events in England to rack up experience to earn his international racing licence.
LE MANS HOPE
Past winners of GT Academy have gone on to race at Le Mans.
Oldfield said: “Le Mans is the ultimate for any racing driver and I hope one day to find myself on the grid. I visited the 2013 24 Hours of Le Mans event - seeing it all in real life was exceptional, it’s the halo event of international motorsport.
“I remember racing Lucas Ordonez – a past GT Academy winner who finished on the podium at Le Mans – at the media launch in October 2012 and I thought if I could beat him in karting I might be able to win GT Academy and join him on the international stage if I put my mind to it.”
'EXTREMELY PROUD'
Nissan SA director Johan Kleynhans said: “We're extremely proud of Ashley - he's done a stellar job of representing South Africa and we foresee great success for him. He exhibited the right qualities for an international motorsport driver from the beginning and we have faith that he will take all the valuable skills he is learning to great heights with Nissan in motorsport.”
Oldfield said: “The GT Academy is an incredible concept and brings an entirely new angle to motorsport – something only Nissan is doing. With such a wide spread of talent available but the financial implications that international motorsport imposes making it very difficult for anyone to crack the nod these days, Nissan’s initiative opens the doors for anybody, no matter their background or occupation.
"Anybody could be next!”
Ashley Oldfield has emerged as the overall winner of the Nissan and PlayStation GT Academy in South Africa, out-performing thousands of South African hopefuls.
Oldfield, who was working for a Wheels24's sister publication, TopCar, when he entered the competition, went to Silverstone in England for the GT Academy "Race Camp" where he raced against and beat seven other South African hopefuls and is now starting a professional racing career.
Oldfield is now involved in a host of motorsport events in England to rack up experience to earn his international racing licence.
LE MANS HOPE
Past winners of GT Academy have gone on to race at Le Mans.
Oldfield said: “Le Mans is the ultimate for any racing driver and I hope one day to find myself on the grid. I visited the 2013 24 Hours of Le Mans event - seeing it all in real life was exceptional, it’s the halo event of international motorsport.
“I remember racing Lucas Ordonez – a past GT Academy winner who finished on the podium at Le Mans – at the media launch in October 2012 and I thought if I could beat him in karting I might be able to win GT Academy and join him on the international stage if I put my mind to it.”
'EXTREMELY PROUD'
Nissan SA director Johan Kleynhans said: “We're extremely proud of Ashley - he's done a stellar job of representing South Africa and we foresee great success for him. He exhibited the right qualities for an international motorsport driver from the beginning and we have faith that he will take all the valuable skills he is learning to great heights with Nissan in motorsport.”
Oldfield said: “The GT Academy is an incredible concept and brings an entirely new angle to motorsport – something only Nissan is doing. With such a wide spread of talent available but the financial implications that international motorsport imposes making it very difficult for anyone to crack the nod these days, Nissan’s initiative opens the doors for anybody, no matter their background or occupation.
"Anybody could be next!”
