Do you have what it takes to go from couch to cockpit and join the Nissan GT Academy Team?

The 2013 GT Academy competition begins today at 8:00 p.m. EDT with an exclusive demo of the new Gran Turismo®6 game for PlayStation®3 now available to download.

The GT6 demo will guide players through a number of rounds in a GT Academy-themed driving school before unlocking the final qualifying event. Gamers have the potential to qualify for this year’s GT Academy, kick-starting a journey that could lead to a real life-racing career with Nissan.

The online qualification for GT Academy will lead to the 31 fastest racers being invited to the National Final events, where they will be joined by this year’s Racer X winner Armen Aghakhan, who earned his seat through the Racer X competition at E3. At National Finals, the 32 competitors will be challenged in the game and on the track in real Nissan cars. From there, the action switches to the famous Race Camp at Silverstone, with the winner there set to potentially join the elite band of Nissan’s Nismo Athletes.

While the demo is open to all and available to play until the end of August, the GT Academy competition itself will close Sunday, July 28 at 6:59 p.m. EDT. Eligible players wishing to enter will register for the final round of the demo in-game by agreeing to the terms and conditions of the competition. Anyone who registers and submits a qualifying time will receive free bonus content.

Fire up your PS3 and race for a chance to join the previous GT Academy Champions who are racing in Nissan-powered race cars in top level international motor sport, including 2012 GT Academy North America winner Steve Doherty who is competing in the Blancpain Endurance Series with the Nissan GT Academy Team RJN.