Turning A Virtual Dream into Reality

How A Boy Finds His Career Through Playing Video Games

After sitting in his room for days playing video games, Jann’s parents are frustrated that he does not use any of his time to build a career for himself; he makes up for it through his fascinating dedication to racing.

Jann Mardenborough, who is played by Archie Madekwe, is a European gamer who spends all his free time playing Gran Turismo. Heckled by his dad, Jann gets a job working as a clothing store employee to show his dad that he can make money and still play video games.

His dad, Steve Mardenborough, played by Djimon Honsou, a former European soccer player who is constantly upset by the fact that his son is playing games instead of pursuing a real career. Gran Turismo is a movie based on the real-life events of famous racer Jann Mardenboroug.

One day, the Gran Turismo development team made a deal with Nissan’s Nismo racing team and decided to allow the best racers to come participate in what they called the GT academy.  It consisted of “driving challenges, media skills tests, physical fitness challenges, and psychiatric evaluations” ‘Gran Turismo’ Fact Check.

Jann realized that he was better than 99% of Gran Turismo players and started training to enter the GT academy; while competing in the qualifying events, Jann beat over “90,000 other entrants to become the third and youngest winner of the GT Academy” competition Gran Turismo True Story Explained. He was almost late to his qualifying race because of work but made it to the online event seconds before the race started.

Jann was recruited to practice his racing skills at the GT Academy in Silverstone, UK. He had a small crash with a competitor named Jack; Jann claims the crash was caused by the brakes malfunctioning in the car. After closer inspection, the GT Academy determines that Jann was in fact right, and that the brakes were glazed over.

Advancing through the GT academy, Jann undertook heavy training and discovered the reality of how bad a crash can be at a real racetrack. He crashed at the Nürburgring track in Germany, and injured many spectators with one dying from the incident; he said it was the “darkest moment” of his “personal and professional life” The Gran Turismo Movie Tells a Remarkable True Story.

Overcoming his accident and the disapproval of his family, Jann Mardenboroug became a successful NASCAR driver who would surprise the world with his origin story.