The Gran Turismo gamer who managed to become an actual real life racing driver
Published on Jul 28, 2025 at 3:16 PM (UTC+4)
by Callum Tokody
Last updated on Jul 28, 2025 at 9:15 PM (UTC+4)
Edited by
Callum Tokody
Jann Mardenborough went from racing laps on Gran Turismo to standing on the Le Mans podium after a breakthrough win in GT Academy.
In 2011, he beat over 90,000 players in the competition, which turned sim racers into actual drivers.
Two years later, he was competing professionally across Europe and Japan.
One serious crash, and the way it was later retold, would shape how people remember his story.
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Gran Turismo turned a game into a gateway
Jann Mardenborough didn’t come from a motorsport background.
He had no karting experience, no sponsors, and no professional contacts.
What he did have was a PlayStation, a steering wheel, and hundreds of hours playing Gran Turismo.
GT Academy, created by Nissan and Sony, gave players like him a shot at turning that experience into something real.
Mardenborough qualified through Gran Turismo 5 and moved on to physical trials at Brands Hatch and Silverstone.
He won the UK round and earned a seat in the 2012 Dubai 24 Hour endurance race.
From there, he joined professional teams in British GT, Formula 3, and Super GT in Japan.
In 2013, he finished third in class at the 24 Hours of Le Mans.
His results gave GT Academy a credible headline act. Mardenborough was no longer just a standout among gamers.
He was proving himself against established drivers and showing that Gran Turismo could help launch a serious career.
The game had already changed his life. It just hadn’t tested him yet.
The crash that changed everything
In 2015, during a race at the Nürburgring Nordschleife, Mardenborough’s GT3 car went airborne, cleared the barriers, and landed in a spectator area.
One person died and several others were injured. Mardenborough was not physically hurt but later described it as the hardest moment of his career.
The crash appears in the 2023 Gran Turismo movie, which follows his journey from GT Academy to Le Mans.
The film, however, shifts the crash earlier in the story. Instead of placing it where it happened, after his Le Mans podium, it’s shown beforehand to raise the stakes earlier.
Mardenborough worked closely with the filmmakers and supported the change, saying the scene was recreated carefully and accurately.
He said that including the crash was his decision. He felt it needed to be part of the story.
Some critics questioned the decision to move it, but the facts of the event were not altered. The order was changed, not the outcome.
Today, Jann Mardenborough is still active in motorsport, both on the track and behind the scenes.
GT Academy has since shut down, but its influence remains clear. Gran Turismo gave him a way in. What happened next was up to him.
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Callum Tokody is a content writer at Supercar Blondie, where he covers the latest in the automotive world with a focus on design and performance. Callum has a background in automotive journalism and has contributed to a range of publications in Australia and the UK. Outside of work, he’s a design enthusiast with a soft spot for anything with a V8 and a good story.
