Gran Turismo and Michelin - Action!
Out in cinemas this month, Gran Turismo tells the true story of how Britain's Jann Mardenborough turned from gamer to full-fledged racing driver. The movie was shot towards the end of 2022 and Michelin Motorsport contributed by providing racing tires for the various cars that were filmed at circuits like the Nürburgring and Red Bull Ring.
Jann Mardenborough's life changed dramatically in 2011 when the young engineering student and motorsport fan beat 90,000 fellow gamers to win the Nissan PlayStation® GT Academy. His prize was an entry for the following year's 24 Hours of Dubai in an RJN Motorsport-run factory Nissan 370 Z.
He came third in class in that race to earn a seat in a Nissan GT-R GT3 for a mixed program that took in the 2012 Blancpain Endurance Series and British GT Championship. A switch to single-seaters in 2013 saw him combine F3, then GP3 racing with selected GT outings with Nissan.
In March 2015, a big accident saw his Nissan GT-R Nismo take off over the Nürburgring's Flugplatz crest and land among spectators, tragically killing one. The same year, he was recruited by Nissan Motorsport for its return to Le Mans in the headlining LMP1 category with the GT-R LM Nismo which was equipped with Michelin tires developed especially for the front-wheel-drive hybrid prototype.
After the French classic, the Darlington native moved to Japan to compete in series like Super GT, Super Formula and F3, before returning to the international scene with a drive in Formula E.
His career concluded in 2020.
Michelin's role in Gran Turismo
Directed by racing fan Neill Blomkamp, Gran Turismo charts Jann's extraordinary journey from gamer to professional racing driver. His part was played by fellow-Briton Archie Madekwe alongside co-stars David Harbour and Orlando Bloom, but he did the driving in the racing scenes himself .
Michelin Motorsport's involvement in the film included not only the supply of tires from its Customer Racing, 'confidential' racing and high-performance road-car ranges, but also the presence of technical staff to advise the film crew on the use of racing tires during shooting in November 2022. The venues visited were the Nürburgring, the Red Bull Ring, Dubai and Hungary's Hungaroring which was decked out as the Le Mans paddock.
Guest-star cars ranged from the Nissan GT-R and a Ligier-Nissan LMP2 prototype, to the Lamborghini Huracan, Ford GT, Ferrari 458 GT3, Audi R8 GT3 and Porsche GT3, all of which Michelin was accustomed to working with in topflight motorsport. Some of these models underwent bespoke modifications, including the Lamborghini which was fitted with a rack to provide a raised driving position.
Michelin, a partner of the game Gran Turismo
The movie features extensive Michelin branding, and the firm has long been a partner of the game Gran Turismo, the seventh version of which was released in 2022.
The association involves Michelin Motorsport engineers working closely with their counterparts at Polyphony Digital and Sony Interactive Entertainment to produce mathematical models that replicate real-world, tire-related sensations as accurately as possible, with spectacular results.
For example, Frenchman Kylian Drumont recently won the Esport Olympics' motor racing category on the Gran Turismo 7 platform in Singapore thanks to a smart strategy that involved running medium-compound tires for the early part of the race before switching to softs for his final stint.
Meanwhile, Jose Serrano grabbed the headlines at mid-August's World Series Gran Turismo 7 in Amsterdam, Netherlands, by claiming the Manufacturers' Cup with Team Porsche and the Nations Cup with Team Spain to earn both Michelin Driver of the Day prizes.