Aussies narrowly miss GT Academy win

A Sydney-based IT support manager has just missed out on a million-dollar racing contract with Nissan.

Joshua Muggleton finished second in the final race of the GT Academy at Silverstone in the UK, coming tantalisingly close to glory.

The winner of the international leg of the Nissan PlayStation GT Academy, which sees drivers plucked from obscurity based on their video gaming skills, was 24-year-old Mexican driver Ricardo Sanchez.

"I'm hugely disappointed," Muggleton told Australian journalists after the last challenge, an eight-lap race in Nissan 370Z race cars.

"I passed more cars than Sanchez did and set the fastest lap of the race, so it's hard to take," said 'Muggo', who was clearly crestfallen.

He attacked Sanchez on the final corner of the final lap of the race, but failed to capitalise on the move, narrowly missing out on the win.

"I can walk away proud knowing I've done the best I can and represented Australia well," said Muggleton, holding back tears.

Despite dominating proceedings and winning almost every challenge during the intense week-long driver recruitment program, the 27-year-old qualified in last position in the final challenge. His team mate, Marcello Rivera, rolled his vehicle (see video below) in an off-road buggy challenge, the results of which decided grid positions for the final race.

"It's just disappointing we threw away the win in the buggy challenge which would've given us pole position. It would have been a whole different story then. We were leading that [buggy] race by miles, and should've won it easy.

"That hurt us big time," said Muggleton.

Six Aussies were flown to Silverstone for the August event after winning the domestic 2014 GT Academy finals at Phillip Island earlier in the year. They joined 21 other finalists from Thailand, the Middle East, India and of course Mexico, as part of the international group.

Sanchez will now join the winners of the three other GT Academy groups, from North American, Europe and Germany, who will live together in a house in Silverstone for the foreseeable future.

The next stage in the life of these gamers-turned-racers is to get their international race driver's license, which requires 12 signatures from 12 race events.

The drivers' first official race under their Nissan contract will be at the Dubai 24 Hours race, in which the four young hot shots will pilot a Nissan 370Z in the punishing endurance event.

Muggleton will certainly have a lot to think about over the following days and weeks, having come excruciatingly close to being Australia's first-ever GT Academy winner, but he is confident of using the high-profile competition as a springboard to a career in motor racing.

The Australian mentor and judge at the event, V8 Supercar champion Rick Kelly, later revealed just how tantalisingly close Muggo got to winning the event.

"It's ridiculous how much he missed out by," said Kelly.

He explained that after the final race the five countries' judges got together and "went around and all took a vote, and it was equal [between Sanchez and Muggleton].

"And Rob Barff [head judge] made the decision and it was hard for him to go any other way because Sanchez won the final challenge, and did a great job.

"But when we were talking and deliberating, most agreed that Josh was the man. He hasn’t won because of someone else's mistake. That's what hurts the most.

"But in motorsport, does the best driver always win? I don't think so.

"Today he learnt one of the harsh realities in motorsport," said Kelly.