Video games and real life are like two parallel lines that never meet, except in some rare cases, like that of Jann Mardenbourough. His is an incredible story and we can retrace it in the film Gran Turismo: The story of an impossible dreamdirected by Neil Blomkamp, broadcast tonight at 9.20pm on Rai 2.
Jann (played by Archie Madekwe) was born in Darlington in 1991 but grew up in Cardiff, Wales. Unlike his future colleagues with whom he shares a passion for speed and racing cars, he does not have the money to afford to start a career in the world of karting. To cultivate his vocation he will use another means: the Playstation.
Start playing Gran Turismo, a well-known car racing video game, on which he spends thousands of hours perfecting simulated driving. His life flows normally until 2011, the turning point. After dropping out of school and taking a gap year, he notices the competition GT Academy. Here over 90 thousand competitors compete to win a place in the GT Academy, a virtual championship created by Sony and sponsored by Nissan on the intuition of manager Danny Moore (played by Orlando Bloom).
A training program would be ready for the winner and subsequently a professional contract with the Japanese car brand. During the competition, Jann amazes everyone and thanks to the help of engineers (the film also features a master, who has the face of David Harbor in the role of Jack Salter) will win the competition beating all the other candidates.
After the triumph Mardenbourough follows the training program, at the end of which debuted in the world of car racing in the 24 Hours of Dubai in 2012concluding with an excellent placement on the lowest step of the podium. His career begins to gain momentum: participates in the British GT championship with his Nissan GT-R GT3. The real turning point comes when joins Carlin Motorsport for the GP3 championship, a competition in which he wins his first race in Germany. The highlight of his career, however, is linked to the historic track of Le Mans. Here he races for the 24 hours of the famous French circuit driving a Zytek N11SN-Nissan.
The moment that changed the young Welsh driver forever came in March 2015. During a race on the track Nürburgring Nordschleifein Germany, his Nissan GT-R Nismo climbs over the circuit fence, killing a spectator. This moment profoundly affects the soul of Jann and his family, played in the film by Djimon Hounsou (father) and Geri Halliwell (mother).
His career as a driver continues until 2021 in Japan, where he climbs the ranks in the GT300 class of Super GT up to GT 500. After this experience he became a tester and stuntman for Nissan in Formula E. In 2023 he entered the production of the film “Gran Turismo: The Story of an Impossible Dream” as executive producer and consultant, also working on set as an official stuntman for Archie Madekwe’s driving scenes.
