Playing video games is the closest most people will ever come to being a champion racing car driver like Jeff Gordon or Max Verstappen. One of the fortunate few, Jann Mardenborough, went from turning laps on a simulator to competing on some of the world’s most renowned racetracks.
The new film gran turismo true story, which is based on the well-liked Playstation series of the same name, follows the 31-year-old British man’s extraordinary journey from player to real-life racer. Archie Madekwe plays Mardenborough in the film, which is currently available for streaming on Netflix. David Harbour and Orlando Bloom also appear in the dramatized account of how a teenage Mardenborough defeated over 90,000 competitors worldwide in the 2011 GT Academy to become a professional driver.
Here’s everything you need to know about the strange ascent of Mardenborough and how one of the most horrific scenes in the racer’s career is creatively portrayed in the movie.
Early Dreams of Racing
Jann’s father, Steve, was a former professional soccer player, but even as a young child, he always wanted to be behind the wheel. He was raised in Cardiff, Wales, and even made an impression on the go-kart track owner when he and Steve visited a nearby track when he was eight years old.
However, the track closed in three years, and Mardenborough stopped racing due to the high cost. “I didn’t know anyone in motorsport, and I didn’t do any karting,” he stated in a 2016 interview with Car Throttle. “So it just became a goal that is so unachievable, just a dream.”
The bashful Mardenborough, who his mother described as “quite a home boy,” instead withdrew to his bedroom to play Gran Turismo. The game series, which made its debut in 1997 for the original Playstation machine, is designed to replicate the appearance and sensation of operating a race car, in contrast to other arcade-style racing games. The experience is almost photorealistic on contemporary consoles.
Up to the time he turned 19 and his life was dramatically changed by Nissan and Sony Computer Entertainment’s GT Academy, Mardenborough had no other way to pursue his racing ambitions.
Demonstrating His Ability on the Track
Mardenborough participated in the hybrid gaming-driving competition, with the winner receiving a contract to compete in the 2012 Dubai 24 Hour event. For the first six weeks, participants were required to record their fastest laps on Gran Turismo 5, all through virtual means. Possessing a simulator setup that included a steering wheel and pedals, Mardenborough claimed to play for up to five hours every day. He moved up to become the eleventh-ranked player in the UK and Ireland by the conclusion.
Mardenborough drove a real car at the southeast England track of Brands Hatch in the next round. At the annual Formula 1 British Grand Prix held at Silverstone, he was one of two competitors to make it to the final stage. He was one of just four drivers remaining to compete in a winner-take-all race at Silverstone after additional cuts were made. He said to Car Throttle, “I only thought I’d have a chance of winning when I qualified first.” It was simply not feasible. You don’t give it much thought.
As predicted, he prevailed and relocated to Silverstone for a six-month program of development aimed at obtaining an international driver’s license. A year later in 2013, Mardenborough immediately demonstrated that his performance wasn’t a fluke, placing third in class in both the Dubai 24 and the 24 Hours of Le Mans, probably the most renowned car race in the world.
Mardenborough has since participated in a number of racing categories, such as British GT, Super GT, and Formula 3. “It’s intoxicating bliss for me—the downforce, the G-force, the vibrations,” Mardenborough said in a recent interview with The Irish Times. “Your body endures a beating. There is a minimum of 150 beats per minute in your heart rate. And it continues for hours at that rate. In two hours, you can burn 1,000 calories. Driving is not only about getting in and going. It seems like you’re wrestling a machine.
The Nürburgring Crash
The Gran Turismo film includes a renowned driver-related accident in addition to its focus on Mardenborough’s discovery and growth. Mardenborough was competing in a GT3 sportscar at the Nürburgring Nordschleife racetrack in Germany in March 2015 when his vehicle took off and crossed over safety barriers. The automobile and flying debris injured several onlookers, and one individual lost their life in the collision.
The startlingly unharmed Mardenborough begged Neill Blomkamp, the director, to incorporate what he called “the darkest moment of my personal and professional life” into the movie. The crash is featured, although preliminary viewings indicated that it is presented out of chronological order—that is, before his remarkable run at the 2013 24 Hours of Le Mans—for narrative impact.
Oli Welsh, a critic for Polygon, referred to this dramatic alteration as a “tasteless reframing of a fatal event,” however Mardenborough still defends the scene’s inclusion. He told Daily Express US, “I made sure it was meticulously done correctly, and the producers and writers made sure, too.” And the film does a great job of portraying that. not just how things transpired but also what followed. as that is how things were.
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