Matthew Simmons is Australia’s latest high-achiever in the international motorsport arena. The 26-year-old has just topped a field of 30 finalists to win the 2015 GT Academy, which will land him a race seat with Nissan in the Dubai 24 Hour race in January next year.
Simmons’ started the final race of the International Camp from pole position and was fighting for the lead until his 370Z suffered mechanical problems and he dropped off the pace. He was still in the running for the overall win, however and was over the moon when he named the winner.
“I genuinely can’t believe it. I’m on top of the world,” Simmons said. “Unfortunately a mechanical problem took the race out of my hands, but that’s motorsport and you can’t hide that, and I think in the early stages of the race I really showed the potential of what I can do.
“The wait on the podium was killing me, but when Rob said my name I had to do a double take. I can’t believe he said it, and I’m now a racing driver!
“My journey has been massive in the last 18 months to here. I’ve had so many people supporting my dream, and they’ve given me so much confidence and made me believe I could achieve what I’ve wanted for so long—to become a racing car driver.
“The GT Academy program is amazing. You can really tell the driver development program trains you to become an athlete, and they teach you all the aspects, so by the time you reach that pinnacle and you’re at Dubai 24 Hours, you’re ready to take on the world.”
All the best to Matt, we look forward to following his career. He has some lofty shoes to fill, with Nismo’s GT Academy team winning the 2015 Bathurst 12 Hour and former GT Academy alumni Jann Mardenborough and Lucas Ordonez mixing with the world’s best in LMP1 at Le Mans.