Jann Mardenborough

About

Jann Mardenborough

Jann Mardenborough’s remarkable journey from computer gamer to professional racing driver has captured the imagination of millions of fans around the world. Ultimately his ‘gamer-to-racer’ life story inspiring the 2023 Sony Pictures film Gran Turismo Movie starring David Harbour and Orlando Bloom.

Born in Darlington, England, Jann’s journey into the world of international single seater and sports car racing began when his passion for cars and motorsport led him to the world of on-line gaming, specifically the Gran Turismo game which was available on platforms including Sony Playstation.

A tie-up between Gran Turismo and Nissan Motorsport led to the creation of the Nissan GT Academy, an on-line tournament which was hotly contested by legions of would-be racers. Jann won the series in 2011, the prize for which was his dream of becoming a professional racing driver in one of Nissan’s highly sought after GT teams.

Jann’s skill behind the wheel resulted in him expanding his career to include both GT and sports car racing alongside single seater programmes including Formula 3, GP3 and GP2, the important feeder categories to Formula 1.

In 2013 Jann made the first of three appearances at the world famous Le Mans 24 Hours sports car race, finishing 3rd in the competitive LMP2 class at the wheel of the Greaves Motorsport Zytek-Nissan. He returned to the French classic in 2014 and 2015, but in 2016 he focused his racing career in Japan, scoring 2nd place in the national Formula 3 series with six pole positions and four victories to his credit.

Since then Jann has focused primarily on Japan’s ultra competitive GT500 sports car series and become involved with the highly innovative, all-electric Formula E series as both a test and simulator driver.

His was closely involved in the 2023 production and promotion of the Grand Turismo Movie by Sony Pictures. Jann’s role in the film was played by London-born actor Archie Madekwe.