90,000+ Players Compete in GT Academy 2011 Time Trials

The GT Academy EU 2011 Round 1 time trials just wrapped up earlier this week, and SCEE has released some official stats about this year’s contest. More than 90,000 players from each of the 10 eligible countries took part in the competition (as you may recall, the first U.S. competition brought in 50,000), but only the top 20 drivers from each region will be moving on to their respective, head-to-head racing finals.

This year’s GT Academy attracted the most entries from the UK closely followed by France and Spain. In performance terms, it was the French who dominated with the fastest two drivers and four of the top 10, and the largest number in the top 50. A Spanish driver was third quickest overall, and one of three Spaniards in the top 10. The remainder of the top 10 was made up of a German (fifth), an Italian (sixth) and a British driver (eighth fastest). The level of competition was fierce, with over 145 gamers setting times within just one second of the leader.

I’m also very excited to announce that many GTPlanet users have made it through to the next round, with a special nod to the following drivers from our GTP_Registry:

  • GTP_Rutter200
  • GTP_Dessy
  • GTP_w-g-e
  • GTP_PASM
  • GTP_spyrrari1
  • GTP_CICO

Join the finalists in our GT Academy 2011 forum and watch for more updates and coverage of the regional finals from around Europe in the next few weeks. Congratulations to all!

GT5 Photomode image by Dessy182.

See more articles on .

Comments (40)

  1. GT_Prologue5

    What about how many people at age qualify for the GT Academy, also the fact it’s in Europe (not the whole world) an that some people maybe didn’t want to.

    1. Tvensky

      trust me more than half of the world get nothing..! I cant even register my country in PSN… to participate in GT is even more far for me.. :((

  2. Dranddad

    •GTP_Rutter200
    •GTP_Dessy
    •GTP_w-g-e
    •GTP_PASM
    •GTP_spyrrari1
    •GTP_CICO

    Congratulations to the above named members of GTPlanet, I’ve spent many enjoyable hours racing with these guys and they well deserve there placing, great advertisement for GTP.

    If I was 30 years younger I’d give you a run for your money. Not

    Good luck guys.

    Good luck to all in the next round it’s better to burn out than fade away, but in the end there can be only one.

    Phillip.

  3. TRB02

    90000… Ok it’s huge !

    But how many of them have just signed in for the “DLC” GTR GT Academy Special” ?

    1. w-g-e

      Many, that’s why I made it through to the next round.lol
      I just want to say that I won’t be able to participate in the next round because I’m too young to participate. I did fill in my real birthdate, but I could just do GT academy like others.

    2. mobiletone

      i did. couldn’t really care for the Academy as i wouldn’t pass on health grounds, but the free car was pretty sweet.

  4. Brandon

    Any chance GTP might throw its weight around a little bit and get some details on DLC? We always appreciate new news regardless of its content. But we need something with substance, such as information on future updates.

  5. Jcdenton

    S2U is the most realistic racing while GT5 is the real driving simulator. Thats what they said in the box

  6. Antony Henley

    Glad I was one of the 90,000 but really annoyed withy self that I bought nfs shift 2. Not impressed one bit. Also that the psn is down it’s kind of a piss me off Easter Holiday really!!!

  7. COOLfiat

    Shift 2 is slightly better than GT5, but the GT5 is the classicz… it’s just a great simulator of physics, while S2:U is a great race driver simulator. OFFTOPIC
    ONTOPIC:
    Great note Jordan!

    1. CorporateHammer

      Well you may like or enjoy Shift 2 more than GT5 but better ? I’m pretty sure if you were to jump into a real car and race then play GT5 with a wheel it would feel a whole heck of allot closer to the real thing than Shift 2.

    2. Madman Apex

      i just played Shift-2 on my pc this week… did two laps around Suzuka Short in the Nissan GT-R; immediately wanted to uninstall it.
      I only need to make one comparison for people to understand the differecnes. The cockpit-cam/helmet-cam in shift 2 is HORRIBLE!!! i played with the ‘HUD’ completely off, i was relying on the dash to shift gears. the camera for no apperant reason constantly changes the distance blur, so one second the dash is in focus then distant trees then the dash then the trees and then you miss the shift point. The advertised, so called “revolutionary”, look to apex feature is terrible. The head/camera starts turning looking towards the corner just as you hit the brakes which immediately made me think i had locked up the brakes and was spinning out! Upon anaylising the replay i saw i was in fact braking fine and going straight. i keep over compensating the steering wheel and letting off of the brakes going right off the track into the grass… huh nuff said, UNINSTALLED.

    3. Gulyo

      I agree with you !!!
      Shift 2 is better and better sim !!!
      I have GT5 too, but it’s booring and the engine sounds terrible.
      Shift 2 is not that precise than GT, BUT there is amazing race feeling ( day and night ), fantastic car selection ( every single car workable ), amazing engine sounds, amazing track selection, Autolog is fantastic !!!

    4. xX_54MW1CH_Xx

      Shift Unleashed is just an arcade game. I was never tempted to buy it, and lucky I didn’t because in terms of realism, EA really did exaggerate. Don’t get me wrong, it’s a decent game (I’ve played it at a friend’s house,) but right now, GT5 is the game for me.

Comments on this post are now closed.

About the Author