POTSDAM -- Clarkson University Junior Christopher Roberts will be a contestant on the GT Academy Reality TV Show airing on the SPEED Channel starting tonight.

SPEED is located on channel 103 on the Time Warner cable system in most of St. Lawrence County.

As part of the reality show, Roberts can’t share his performance results from this past summer until after the last of five episodes is aired on Oct. 18.

Starting with his Play Station I in the third grade, Roberts has been racing cars in electronic games and simulators, with Gran Turismo 5 among his current favorites.

This summer, he got a chance to apply his skills to racing a real car on the legendary Silverstone Circuit in England as part of the 2011 GT Academy.

Tonight at 10 p.m., the SPEED Channel will begin airing five taped episodes that lead up each week to the confidential finalists in the competition.

Roberts placed first out of more than 54,000 online players in an electronic qualifying round and in the top 16 in an organized simulator qualifying round in Florida last spring.

While Roberts can’t reveal his final performance or specific challenges he overcame while on track, does say going through the England Stage of the competition was an experience of a lifetime for him as he watched the competition sift through the 16 drivers that were the most physically and mentally prepared and skilled to drive a car at a professional level in the FIA GT-4 European Championship.

For more information on the GT Academy competition, go to: http://us.gran-turismo.com/us/academy/2011/

Clarkson will be showing race episodes in the Student Center during each show with light snacks provided.