New livery for Caruso in Townsville

Michael Caruso's #23 NISMO Nissan Altima V8 Supercar will take on a striking new look for the Castrol EDGE Townsville 400 this weekend.

To celebrate the Australian Finals of the Nissan PlayStation GT Academy at Warner Bros. Movie World on the Gold Coast in two weeks' time, Caruso's Altima V8 Supercar will feature a special 'black chrome' GT Academy livery.

Caruso has competed in alternating liveries this season, with his most recent red NP300 Navara colours well received at Winton and Darwin.

"This is easily the best-looking V8 Supercar I will have the privilege of driving," Caruso said.

"We see lots of different colour schemes and special designs from time to time, but this GT Academy livery is going to stick in people's minds for a long time.

"And even if people don't like it as much as I do, they won't be able to miss it - it's very shiny!"

Caruso hoped the new livery would draw attention to the GT Academy program.

"The Nissan PlayStation GT Academy is a great concept and I hope our new design can ensure that more and more people get down to Movie World and try and qualify for the final - there's still 10 spots up for grabs," he said.

Nissan and Sony Computer Entertainment Australia recently confirmed that the Gold Coast's famous Movie World theme park will play host to this year's GT Academy Australian Final, where ten of Australia's best online racers will compete against ten contestants who will qualify via last chance 'live events'.

With online qualifying concluded, the only way to now earn a place in the Australian Final is via 'live events' to be held at Warner Bros. Movie World in the week leading into the final.

Two contestants will be selected each day via live events held from Wednesday 15 July to Friday 17 July at 11am to 3pm, with a further four selected on Saturday 18 July from 10am to 12:00.

The Nissan PlayStation GT Academy Australian Final will be staged at Warner Bros. Movie World on Saturday 18 July and Sunday 19 July.

The 20 contestants in the Australian Final will compete in gaming on Gran Turismo6 on PlayStation3, fitness tests, media sessions and on-track driving challenges in Nissan sportscars.

The Australian Final will be overseen by a group of experts led by Nissan Motorsport V8 Supercars driver and Australian GT Academy judge and mentor Rick Kelly.

The six best contestants from the Australian Final will then join Kelly in flying to the Silverstone F1 circuit in the United Kingdom for the 2015 GT Academy International Race Camp in August, where Australian hopefuls will compete against finalists from Mexico, Turkey, northern Africa and the United States for the chance to become a professional racing driver for Nissan and NISMO.

Nissan Motor Co. Australia Managing Director Richard Emery was pleased with the striking look of the V8 Supercar.

"Nissan is pleased to raise awareness for the GT Academy program with such a spectacular livery," Emery said.

"We have enjoyed using Michael's #23 Nissan Altima V8 Supercar to promote several initiatives this year, including NISMO, NP300 Navara and GT Academy...

"The ultimate would be to have an Australian gamer win International Race Camp. If we were to have an Australian GT Academy winner, who knows, one day they could be racing a Nissan Altima V8 Supercar at Bathurst."

The Castrol EDGE Townsville 400 kicks off on Friday - click here for all the TV broadcast details for the July 10-12 Castrol EDGE Townsville 400.

The Castrol EDGE Townsville 400 will be shown on Saturday and Sunday on Channel TEN, with coverage beginning at 12pm and races LIVE from 4.15pm EST each day.

FOX SPORTS 506 will show the weekend in full kicking off on Friday and including all three practice sessions from 7am, as well as the weekend's qualifying and racing LIVE, starting at 7.30am on Saturday and 7.55am on Sunday.