His life became a movie: Who is Jann Mardenborough?

Jann Mardenborough did not race professionally until he was 19 years old. A good video gamer, Mardenborough's transition from the screen to the track took place in 2011 with the Gran Turismo Academy competition, which he won by beating more than 90 thousand participants. The driver, who was the third most durable in the competition, participated in the Dubai 24 Hours on behalf of Nissan as a reward, and this is how his racing driver career, which lasted for years, began.

Jann Mardenborough (born 9 September 1991) is a British professional racing driver. In 2011 he became the third and youngest winner of the GT Academy competition, beating 90,000 entrants to earn a professional racing contract with Nissan. He had no previous motorsport experience, having played sim racing video games instead. During his career, he has finished on the podium in his class at the 24 Hours of Le Mans, won races and contended for titles in GT3 and junior formula cars, and competed at the highest level in Super GT, Super Formula and the FIA World Endurance Championship.

The champion emerged among 90 thousand people in the competition organized by the game workshop called GT Academy, founded by Nissan and Sony. The young Briton, who received the support of Nissan after his success in the Gran Turismo game, competed in GP3 after his small experiences in GT vehicles and the Le Mans category.

August 2023

The movie Gran Turismo, inspired by the real-life story of Jann Mardeborough, was released.

Mardeborough acted as the stunt double for Archie Madekwe, who played himself, in the racing scenes of Gran Turismo.

In the movie, where real tracks and real cars were used to convey a true story in the most convincing way possible, a fleet of 65 vehicles was created, 22 of which were hero cars. While starting the movie, David Harbor said, "I didn't know how much we would actually be working with real cars, real drivers, and real tracks," adding, "95% of what you see in this movie is real." We changed tires on the cars, filled them with fuel, and lapped the track in real-time with other drivers. "I was literally in a helicopter flying 100 feet above the race cars," he said.

Directed by Neil Blomkamp and written by Jason Hall and Zach Baylin, the film's cast includes names such as David Harbour, Orlando Bloom, Djimon Hounsou, and Geri Halliwell.