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Written by Joe Holding
TG has followed the progress of Jann Mardenborough ever since he won the GT Academy back in 2011. One of barely a dozen to turn success in the gaming programme into a fully-fledged career in motorsport, he is now competing in All-Japan Formula Three and the GT300 class in the Super GT series.His journey in motorsport appeared to be going from strength to strength when he landed an LMP1 drive with Nissan following his podium finish in LMP2 at Le Mans in 2013, but the manufacturer"s struggles and eventual withdrawal from the top tier of the World Endurance Championship saw that door close as quickly as it had opened.And there was a much more harrowing experience to come as a crash at the N rburgring last year led to the death of a spectator, something which led him to seek advice and reassurance from Allan McNish, who suffered a similar ordeal after an accident at Donington in 1990.Now 24 years old, Jann is living and racing in Japan, about as far away as its possible to get from hometown Cardiff. After enjoying a pulsating run up the hill in the 2017 Nissan GT-R at the Goodwood Festival of Speed (see the video above), we asked him if he"d overcome recent woes and if a seat in F1 was still his ultimate goalYou"re racing in Japanese Formula Three and GT300 this year. How"s that going?"Japanese Formula Three and GT300 are going well. I"m leading the championship in GT300 and I"m second in Japanese Formula Three at the moment. I think it"s been two wins and in total something like six podiums, which is great. I like racing out there, it"s going well this year."This is your second stint in F3. How are you finding it compared to last time?"Getting into motorsport is not conventional the way I have from gaming, but I"ve done Formula Three in the past, then gone up to GP3 which is seen as a step up. And now I"ve gone back down to Formula Three. But I"m loving Formula Three because now I have the experience to exploit myself better, exploit the tools that I"ve been given better. The information that I provide is better because I just have more experience."And results are better because I"m just faster as a driver. The differences are that physically I"m stronger and I know what I want now in the car. I know when a change is needed and what change is needed, whereas in 2013 when I did Formula Three last time I didn"t know what I wanted because it was so new. I wasn"t in tune with the car, so this year is much more how it should be. I"m enjoying it a lot."It"s a few years since you graduated from the GT Academy. It must feel like a lifetime ago"I won the GT Academy back in 2011, so it"s been five years now. It seems a long time away. I would say the last two years I feel like the gamer" tag has been dropped a little bit. I don"t hear it as often as I did in the first three years. It"s a bit strange but at the same time it"s great because you"re showing the world that you"re an established driver through GT Academy, and that"s great."I kind of miss it as well. There"s only around 11 of us that have done the route that we have through gaming, so it"s quite a unique tag to have. I"ve been racing lots of different things in countries which I never thought I"d get to visit, let alone race in. I"m trying to do my best, give 100 per cent and continue this on for as long as possible. So far it"s going well."What"s life like in Japan?"It"s very different, it"s a completely different culture to the Western world. It"s like visiting another planet sometimes. The people are very lovely, they"re kind people. The racing is great, it"s absolutely fantastic. I"m living out there currently in an apartment which Nismo and GT Academy have provided. The language barrier is a bit difficult sometimes, especially in an engineering meeting or meetings in general where you could be sat down for 15 minutes and not understand what we"re talking about! My engineer speaks good English, so anything that"s directed my way can be translated.
Date written: 27 Jun 2016
More of this article on the Top gear website
ID: 4032
TG has followed the progress of Jann Mardenborough ever since he won the GT Academy back in 2011. One of barely a dozen to turn success in the gaming programme into a fully-fledged career in motorsport, he is now competing in All-Japan Formula Three and the GT300 class in the Super GT series.His journey in motorsport appeared to be going from strength to strength when he landed an LMP1 drive with Nissan following his podium finish in LMP2 at Le Mans in 2013, but the manufacturer"s struggles and eventual withdrawal from the top tier of the World Endurance Championship saw that door close as quickly as it had opened.And there was a much more harrowing experience to come as a crash at the N rburgring last year led to the death of a spectator, something which led him to seek advice and reassurance from Allan McNish, who suffered a similar ordeal after an accident at Donington in 1990.Now 24 years old, Jann is living and racing in Japan, about as far away as its possible to get from hometown Cardiff. After enjoying a pulsating run up the hill in the 2017 Nissan GT-R at the Goodwood Festival of Speed (see the video above), we asked him if he"d overcome recent woes and if a seat in F1 was still his ultimate goalYou"re racing in Japanese Formula Three and GT300 this year. How"s that going?"Japanese Formula Three and GT300 are going well. I"m leading the championship in GT300 and I"m second in Japanese Formula Three at the moment. I think it"s been two wins and in total something like six podiums, which is great. I like racing out there, it"s going well this year."This is your second stint in F3. How are you finding it compared to last time?"Getting into motorsport is not conventional the way I have from gaming, but I"ve done Formula Three in the past, then gone up to GP3 which is seen as a step up. And now I"ve gone back down to Formula Three. But I"m loving Formula Three because now I have the experience to exploit myself better, exploit the tools that I"ve been given better. The information that I provide is better because I just have more experience."And results are better because I"m just faster as a driver. The differences are that physically I"m stronger and I know what I want now in the car. I know when a change is needed and what change is needed, whereas in 2013 when I did Formula Three last time I didn"t know what I wanted because it was so new. I wasn"t in tune with the car, so this year is much more how it should be. I"m enjoying it a lot."It"s a few years since you graduated from the GT Academy. It must feel like a lifetime ago"I won the GT Academy back in 2011, so it"s been five years now. It seems a long time away. I would say the last two years I feel like the gamer" tag has been dropped a little bit. I don"t hear it as often as I did in the first three years. It"s a bit strange but at the same time it"s great because you"re showing the world that you"re an established driver through GT Academy, and that"s great."I kind of miss it as well. There"s only around 11 of us that have done the route that we have through gaming, so it"s quite a unique tag to have. I"ve been racing lots of different things in countries which I never thought I"d get to visit, let alone race in. I"m trying to do my best, give 100 per cent and continue this on for as long as possible. So far it"s going well."What"s life like in Japan?"It"s very different, it"s a completely different culture to the Western world. It"s like visiting another planet sometimes. The people are very lovely, they"re kind people. The racing is great, it"s absolutely fantastic. I"m living out there currently in an apartment which Nismo and GT Academy have provided. The language barrier is a bit difficult sometimes, especially in an engineering meeting or meetings in general where you could be sat down for 15 minutes and not understand what we"re talking about! My engineer speaks good English, so anything that"s directed my way can be translated.
Date written: 27 Jun 2016
More of this article on the Top gear website
ID: 4032
