How ‘Gran Turismo’ Revved Up a Real-Life Racing Story
After a slight delay, the adrenaline-packed sports drama Gran Turismo is set to hit theaters on August 25. Based on its title, some may be wondering if the film is another video game adaptation, as Gran Turismo is also the name of a racing simulation video game series. There have been seven Gran Turismo games released between 1997 and 2022 for PlayStation, and they have received high praise for how realistic and detailed they are. Many consider it the best racing simulation game, featuring hundreds of vehicles to choose from and countless tracks, some of which are famous, real-life tracks from around the world.
The film Gran Turismo isn’t a live-action adaptation of the video game, though the games do figure prominently in the film. Instead, it follows the story of Jann Mardenborough (Archie Madekwe), a young man and avid Gran Turismo player who was able to make the transition from video game racing to real-life professional race car driving. As realistic as the Gran Turismo game series may be, most will agree that few video game racers are actually cut out to be real race car drivers. However, as unbelievable as it may sound, Gran Turismo is actually based on a true story.
The real-life story behind Gran Turismo
Gran Turismo follows the true story of Mardenborough, a professional racer who has competed in the Super GT Series, Super Formula, and GP3 Series. However, he got his start in professional racing in a rather unconventional manner. In 2011, Mardenborough was 19 years old and taking a gap year from school when he heard about the GT Academy—a competition held from 2008 to 2016 that sought to give avid Gran Turismo players the chance to enter the world of professional racing. Sony and Nissan collaborated to bring the competition to life and began churning out GT Academy champions in 2008. Over the years, many of the champions have gone on to become professional racers competing in championships and nabbing podium finishes.
Of the graduates, Mardenborough is arguably the most famous. Mardenborough knew he had a knack for racing when he started karting at the age of eight. The local kart track shut down by the time he was 11, and traveling expenses kept him from competing physically anymore. This is when he turned to the Gran Turismo games to simulate racing. After years of playing the video game, Mardenborough was one of 90,000 players to apply for GT Academy in 2011. He applied to the competition without even telling his parents, thus shocking them when he revealed that he was one of just eight applicants who had qualified to try his hand at real-life racing.
After passing the physical driving test, Mardenborough went on to race camp and ultimately became the third and youngest winner of the GT Academy. Like his fellow GT Academy winners, he was placed in a Driver Development Program that provided a fast track for the winners to receive an International Racing License. He received his license after six months, despite the process normally taking three years for other rookie racers. After this, Mardenborough launched his professional racing career and later took up formula racing in 2013. He is still competing to this day. Mardenborough even served as a producer and stunt driver on the Gran Turismo movie.
Gran Turismo will also dive into some of the struggles and low points in Mardenborough’s career, including the staggering physical and financial obstacles he faced as a race car driver and his horrific crash in Nürburg, Germany, that caused a spectator’s death. However, not all of Gran Turismo is true. Many of the characters, like David Harbour’s Jack Salter and Orlando Bloom’s Danny Moore, are either wholly original characters or fictional characters merely based on real-life figures. While the film does take some creative liberties, its tracking of Mardenborough’s unconventional rise to professional racing and his subsequent career is very much based on real life.
(featured image: Sony Pictures Releasing)
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