Jann Mardenborough: From Gamer To Pro Racer

How Much Is Jann Mardenborough Worth?

Let me tell you about Jann Mardenborough, the British professional racing driver with a net worth of $10 million. Now, here's the cool part—back in 2011, Jann was just some guy playing "Gran Turismo" on his PlayStation, but he became the youngest winner of the GT Academy competition. He beat over 90,000 other gamers to land a professional racing contract with Nissan. That's right, folks—no prior racing experience needed, just pure skill and determination. Over the years, Jann has driven for teams like NDDP Racing, Team Impul, and Kondō Racing in the Super GT series. He also competed with Greaves Motorsport, OAK Racing, and Nissan Motorsports in the prestigious 24 Hours of Le Mans. Jann even finished second in the 2014 Toyota Racing Series and the 2016 Japanese Formula 3 Championship. Oh, and did I mention he was named one of the world’s 50 most marketable athletes by Sports Pro Media in 2015? Not only that, he played a key role as a co-producer on the 2023 film "Gran Turismo," where he was portrayed by actor Archie Madekwe.

Where It All Began

Jann Mardenborough was born on September 9, 1991, in Darlington, County Durham, England. His dad, Steve Mardenborough, was a former professional footballer, so you could say sports were in his blood. Growing up in Cardiff, Jann always had a dream—to be a professional racing driver. His journey started at the tender age of 8 when he discovered the racing game "Gran Turismo" at a friend's house. He spent so much time there playing that his friend eventually gifted him the game and a PlayStation so he could play at home. Fast forward to 2010, and Jann was enrolled in a Swansea university to study motorsport engineering. But guess what? He dropped out less than a month later because the course was more math-heavy than he expected. During his gap year, he learned about an online time trial for "Gran Turismo 5," which was part of the GT Academy competition. Out of over 90,000 participants, Jann made it to the top 20 in his region. After rigorous training and racing challenges, he won the final 20-minute race at the Silverstone National Circuit in a Nissan 370Z, securing a professional racing contract with Nissan.

A Career in the Fast Lane

After winning the GT Academy competition, Jann’s life took off like a rocket. He completed a driver training program and began competing in national races, which allowed him to qualify for an international racing license. In early 2012, he competed in the Dubai 24 Hour race driving a Nissan 370Z GT4 and finished third in his class. For the rest of that year, Jann raced in a Nissan GT-R GT3 in the British GT Championship for RJN Motorsport. He won one race in the series with Alex Buncombe and ended up sixth in the GT3 championship. In 2013, Jann shifted his focus to formula racing and ended the season in tenth place in New Zealand’s Toyota Racing Series. He drove for Carlin Motorsport in the 2013 FIA European Formula Three Championship and British Formula 3 Championship, finishing 21st and sixth, respectively. At the 2013 24 Hours of Le Mans, he raced for Greaves Motorsport alongside Michael Krumm and Lucas Ordóñez in the LMP2 class, finishing third in class. The following year, Jann drove for OAK Racing at Le Mans alongside Mark Shulzhitskiy and Alex Brundle, finishing fifth in the LMP2 class due to a spark plug issue. In 2014, Jann was runner-up in the Toyota Racing Series and competed for Arden International in that year’s GP3 Series. Around that time, Red Bull Racing signed him to their driver development program, and in July 2014, he won his first GP3 race.

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In 2015, Jann was selected to drive for Nissan Motorsports in the FIA World Endurance Championship’s (WEC) top LMP1 class, while also racing for Carlin in GP3. However, tragedy struck during the VLN series in March 2015 when his Nissan GT-R Nismo flipped over a fence at the Nürburgring Nordschleife in Germany, resulting in the death of a spectator. Jann was taken to a hospital for "routine checks" after the crash but was not seriously injured. Despite this setback, he moved to Japan in 2016, where he finished fourth in the GT300 class at the Super GT series and second in the Japanese Formula 3 Championship. In 2017, he moved up to the top GT500 class of Super GT, driving for Team Impul. He finished 15th in the Super GT GT500 standings with teammate Hironobu Yasuda and 14th in the Japanese Super Formula Championship. Jann and his co-driver Daiki Sasaki ended the 2018 Super GT season in 12th place. In 2019, he started driving for Kondō Racing’s Nissan GT500 lineup alongside Mitsunori Takaboshi, finishing 14th overall in Super GT that year and 19th overall in 2020. Unfortunately, Nissan did not retain Jann for the 2021 season, so he spent 2021 and 2022 as a car development driver and simulator for Nissan e.dams. In May 2023, he returned to racing at the Super Taikyu Series, driving a Nissan GT-R Nismo GT3 for Helm Motorsports in the Fuji 24 Hours round. His team finished in fourth place due to brake issues.

Life Beyond the Track

Jann Mardenborough wasn't just a racer—he was also a co-producer on the 2023 film "Gran Turismo," where he served as a consultant and stunt driver. He was portrayed by Archie Madekwe, who earned a Black Reel Award nomination for Outstanding Breakthrough Performance for the film. Jann gave the filmmakers permission to include his 2015 Nürburgring Nordschleife crash in the movie because he felt it would have been a disservice to the audience if it wasn’t there. He explained, "It needed to be correct because somebody lost their life in this accident. And the movie does a great job of that. It shows the deep, dark moments of my life when I was in the hospital by myself. You know, the mental aspects of such an event, and in life as well: what can happen; how you can get out of that; how can you rebound and achieve something—achieve greatness—off the back of that. And so it had to be in there." This level of authenticity makes Jann's story even more compelling and relatable to fans around the world.