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"  Everyone loves the underdog. Collegiate football has Notre Dame&amp;#039;s Rudy Ruettiger, now motorsports has Bryan Heitkotter. A former Toyota dealership parts deliveryman, Heitkotter was unemployed for two years. The automotive enthusiast with an SCCA Solo National autocross championship to his name couldn&amp;#039;t find a job for the life of him. That is, until the first U.S. GT Academy.   Organized by Sony PlayStation&amp;#039;s hit Gran Turismo 5 game, the GT Academy premise was simple: Find the fastest GT5 gamers and see how they do in real cars. After the semi-finals (see Ampersand, June 2011), Heitkotter and 15 others were flown to the Silverstone Circuit in England. There the 16 finalists competed in physical challenges as well as automotive ones. Thanks to a partnership with Nissan, they trained and competed in Nissan GT-Rs, 370Zs and Leafs, as well as open-wheel karts.   The entire experience was filmed for a reality show on Speed Channel (airing in September 2011), and as per trademark reality show style, competitors were whittled down as the week progressed. For the final challenge, the four remaining contestants raced wheel to wheel around Silverstone&amp;#039;s GP track in 370Zs where Heitkotter emerged victorious. His prize? The 30-year-old gamer relocated from his Fresno, California, home to Silverstone, where he will undergo seven months of intensive training as an employee of the track. In January 2012, Heitkotter will make his global debut at the 24H Dubai race, driving under the Nissan banner.   "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
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