Big changes for GT Academy in 2015

[RHODRIEWILLIAMS]

Am i the only one who has noticed that this rule only applies to 2013/2014 and NOT previous years....

So if you went to the Nationals between 2008-2012 you are still eligible, but if you went to the Nationals in 13/14 then you aren't, that is very unfair. But what i think is the most unfair is the fact these rule changes only effect Europe right..? (correct me if i'm wrong). They should make the rules identical for all regions. It's not fair to have one set of rules for one region and not the other.

I can understand 2 or 3 national finals then if you don't make it its game over but to miss 2 years then come back is madness.
Its probably getting rid of as many 18 year olds as the older guys

 

[magsolid]

SCEE or whoever in charge of GTA did a big mistake for eliminating those potentially good driver that made it in national final. People just keep doubting that they want a guy who is only good IRL. If they really want a driver that is only good IRL, they could have quite the program and go find a fast rich kid from tradition path instead.

 

[Yinato]

Hello,

If like me you are disappointed with the new regulation prohibiting 2013-2014 national finalists to participate in the competition, I invite you to copy and paste this message several times on each publication GT Academy Facebook page:

"Thank you to prevent prevention national finalists 2013-2014 to access the competition, it's a brilliant idea...

You want the best Gran Turismo players or just anyone? Why do not you organizes a draw for qualifying, it Would Be faster, right?

I am really sad... "

Thank you.

Sincerely,
Yinato.

 

[TRL_Andromeda]

"Thank you for preventing previous national finalists from 2013/2014 to access the competition, it's a brilliant idea...

Do you want the best Gran Turismo players or just anyone? Why don't you organize a draw for qualifying instead, it would be faster, right?

I am really sad... "

FTFY

 

[MistaVega23]

I've got a question: have the guys who've won the competition been the quickest in the game? For example, was Jann Mardenborough the quickest in the TT's or in the top 10 or whatever?

 

[Growling]

I've got a question: have the guys who've won the competition been the quickest in the game? For example, was Jann Mardenborough the quickest in the TT's or in the top 10 or whatever?

From what I've read Jann had to put in HOURS (8 hours a day) to JUST scrape through.

 

[Arveena]

Hello,

If like me you are disappointed with the new regulation prohibiting 2013-2014 national finalists to participate in the competition, I invite you to copy and paste this message several times on each publication GT Academy Facebook page:

"Thank you to prevent prevention national finalists 2013-2014 to access the competition, it's a brilliant idea...

You want the best Gran Turismo players or just anyone? Why do not you organizes a draw for qualifying, it Would Be faster, right?

I am really sad... "

Thank you.

Sincerely,
Yinato.

Funny thing is last year in Germanys National Final they recommended everyone who was not in Shape to withdrawl and try again next year. So they would not make it to the Race Camp. And also they (including Florian Strauß who won it on his second attemp) said something like "Its better to drop out now. So you will get another chance"
I put a a lot of effort in everything i did for the last 12 month. I went running at least 3 times a week even in the coldest weather. I improved my driving I bought equipment hell I even started a small Crowdfunding based on that information.

I am not even angry. m just sad now. There was also no Problems at all in German GTA with previous Finalsts. From 32 people in the Nationals only one was there before and he did not even made it to the Racecamp.
I still hope it only effect the previous member of GTA Europe and not Germany but that is a desparation move.
You also get no communication from GTA. Why it is only for Europe and why 2008-2012 are excluded.

It wont change the Problem a 2008-12 Finalist will still compete and will likely be faster than then other people trying to qualify

 

[CodeRedR51]

So players from these countries who worked really hard on getting to the top and then go to the GT Academy race camp only to get a big F:censored: you from Nissan for no reason or whatsoever.

We don't know that.

 

[gm matthew]

I have started a petition over at change.org regarding 2013 and 2014 territory finalists from Europe being ineligible this year. If you are a previous territory finalist and want to compete this year, or otherwise want to support us, please visit the petition and sign it.

 

[rclark83]

I have started a petition over at change.org regarding 2013 and 2014 territory finalists from Europe being ineligible this year. If you are a previous territory finalist and want to compete this year, or otherwise want to support us, please visit the petition and sign it.

Signed hope its all just a big mistake because in the introduction it says there will be national finals? Seems a bit of a mess this year...

 

[OutlawQuadrnt]

At the end of the day, it's their show. If they want to change the rules/format/whatever, there's not much we can do about it. Might not be fair but life never is.

That being said, organizing a contest isn't something I consider a strength for the Academy. They did flub the US rules one year.

 

[Yinato]

Thank you very much Matthew, it is nice to see that there are still people willing to fight to change things!

I will support you and share the petition to the maximum possible person.

Perhaps it would be boring to create a post specifically for the petition, it could have a greater impact...

It should also be able to talk to Jordan, it would be good if he could help us.

I remain at your disposal for any support and thank you again.

Sincerely,
Yinato.

 

[Arveena]

Get that petition its own thread! Maybe we get at least an answer why they excluded this specific two years of those specific countries and everyone else is fine to compete.

Still hoping. They messed up the ruling in Germany last year too.

Also did someone get in touch with any sort of customer support. Last year i received instant answers to my questions this year they are just ignoring everybody it seems

 

[O_howell20]

I think the whole point of making these guys ineligible is because they have had their chance at the nationals. If they don't make these people ineligible then it will mean the guys that are quick online will be the ones turning up every year that don't win the previous years for a reason. I think it you get to the Nationals then it's an achievement in itself. You have to take that chance and win it from there. If not then game over

 

[Arveena]

Then why are they only doing it for certain countries and not for all.
I would be fine with it if that is the reasoning.
That can not the reasoning behind the decision.
But what is diffrence between a 2012 german finalist and a 2014.
Or better example a 2014 US finalist and a 2014 Brit?
2008-2012 finalists will still be faster in the online competetion than other people.
And for the US and the other countries its still the same with last years guys in front of the leaderboard.
Also Organisiers last year engouraged people to withdrawl from the competetion even if they were really fast because they had a few kilos to much.
So they could train for one year and could try again because they really had talent

 

[gm matthew]

I think the whole point of making these guys ineligible is because they have had their chance at the nationals. If they don't make these people ineligible then it will mean the guys that are quick online will be the ones turning up every year that don't win the previous years for a reason. I think it you get to the Nationals then it's an achievement in itself. You have to take that chance and win it from there. If not then game over

While I see your point of view, I have to disagree with you.

There are three possible reasons for a national finalist failing to qualify for Race Camp:

1. They simply aren't good enough compared to the other competitors.
2. They are not currently at their full potential; they could still improve, sometimes by a lot.
3. They made too many mistakes and/or got unlucky.

Let's take Karl Chard, who made it all the way to the final race last year. He competed in the UK and Ireland national final in 2012 but failed to make it to the second day, coming tied 24th out of 32 finalists! Even if someone does badly at one national final, you never know what they will be capable of in a real car.

 

[Yuraku9090]

I just signed up here to reply some comments that, in my point of view, they are absolutely unfair.

I’ll explain you my case quickly: I’m from Spain and I’ve been trying to enter to GT Academy since 2010. I have always been out of entering the national final just for a few. I remember so well as I looked rankings from other countries in which I not only had entered , but would have been classified easily. While in Spain , with such a high level, I was out. Year after year. I was quicker than many drivers from Finland, Holland, Portugal… and I was out, while there were 10 Finnish/Dutch/Portuguese people in the national final with chances of Race Camp. If we say unfair things , I can make a long, long list. Like me, there’s such a lot of people with similar situations.
You should know that here in Spain we are mixed with Portugal and then we have half chances, so there could have entered only 7 spanish people. With the time that you set last year, Yinato, you didn’t have entered in Spain, did you know?
Moreover, do you think that drivers that being just a little slower in GT than the best ones can’t be excellent drivers in the real life?

It makes me very angry that you give for granted that if this year there’s nobody from classified national finalists for the 2013- 2014 , then there won’t be the best Gran Turismo players. There will be simply “anyone”. Draw a picture? In this first test I'm ahead of many who complain here.

 

[Johnnypenso]

I just signed up here to reply some comments that, in my point of view, they are absolutely unfair.

I’ll explain you my case quickly: I’m from Spain and I’ve been trying to enter to GT Academy since 2010. I have always been out of entering the national final just for a few. I remember so well as I looked rankings from other countries in which I not only had entered , but would have been classified easily. While in Spain , with such a high level, I was out. Year after year. I was quicker than many drivers from Finland, Holland, Portugal… and I was out, while there were 10 Finnish/Dutch/Portuguese people in the national final with chances of Race Camp. If we say unfair things , I can make a long, long list. Like me, there’s such a lot of people with similar situations.
You should know that here in Spain we are mixed with Portugal and then we have half chances, so there could have entered only 7 spanish people. With the time that you set last year, Yinato, you didn’t have entered in Spain, did you know?
Moreover, do you think that drivers that being just a little slower in GT than the best ones can’t be excellent drivers in the real life?

It makes me very angry that you give for granted that if this year there’s nobody from classified national finalists for the 2013- 2014 , then there won’t be the best Gran Turismo players. There will be simply “anyone”. Draw a picture? In this first test I'm ahead of many who complain here.

Good points. 👍 Everyone should keep in mind that this is a "contest" as much as it is a competition. Nissan is doing this for one reason and one reason only - marketing. If all they wanted was a fast driver, they'd just pick someone from the lower ranks who had proven themselves already. As @Yuraku9090 points out, by it's very design the competition ignores the overall results and declares winners regionally, meaning many very fast drivers from certain regions will always be supplanted by slower drivers from other regions, simply because that's how the contest is set up. That's the marketing aspect of it. They want a driver from India, Japan, U.S., Spain, England etc for promotional reasons that have nothing to do with fairness.

Having said that I still think it's worthwhile to petition Nissan for any changes you want, you might succeed, but let's not micro analyze the very macro decisions they make regarding the competition.

 

[TRL_Andromeda]

I just signed up here to reply some comments that, in my point of view, they are absolutely unfair.

I’ll explain you my case quickly: I’m from Spain and I’ve been trying to enter to GT Academy since 2010. I have always been out of entering the national final just for a few. I remember so well as I looked rankings from other countries in which I not only had entered , but would have been classified easily. While in Spain , with such a high level, I was out. Year after year. I was quicker than many drivers from Finland, Holland, Portugal… and I was out, while there were 10 Finnish/Dutch/Portuguese people in the national final with chances of Race Camp. If we say unfair things , I can make a long, long list. Like me, there’s such a lot of people with similar situations.
You should know that here in Spain we are mixed with Portugal and then we have half chances, so there could have entered only 7 spanish people. With the time that you set last year, Yinato, you didn’t have entered in Spain, did you know?
Moreover, do you think that drivers that being just a little slower in GT than the best ones can’t be excellent drivers in the real life?

It makes me very angry that you give for granted that if this year there’s nobody from classified national finalists for the 2013- 2014 , then there won’t be the best Gran Turismo players. There will be simply “anyone”. Draw a picture? In this first test I'm ahead of many who complain here.

Spain have way to few spots, we need about 26 spots to make up for the big talent poole here, France have similar problem, too few spots allocated from gt academy.

That's really unfair, but excluding previous national finalists does'nt make it better.

 

[gm matthew]

Good points. 👍 Everyone should keep in mind that this is a "contest" as much as it is a competition. Nissan is doing this for one reason and one reason only - marketing. If all they wanted was a fast driver, they'd just pick someone from the lower ranks who had proven themselves already. As @Yuraku9090 points out, by it's very design the competition ignores the overall results and declares winners regionally, meaning many very fast drivers from certain regions will always be supplanted by slower drivers from other regions, simply because that's how the contest is set up. That's the marketing aspect of it. They want a driver from India, Japan, U.S., Spain, England etc for promotional reasons that have nothing to do with fairness.

Having said that I still think it's worthwhile to petition Nissan for any changes you want, you might succeed, but let's not micro analyze the very macro decisions they make regarding the competition.

Very valid points. At the end of the day, it doesn't matter if the GT Academy champions aren't necessarily the very quickest out of all of the competitors (at least from Nissan's perspective), which has naturally resulted in some very quick drivers missing out. Even so, they got the chance to compete right to the end, driving a variety of fast cars around one of the world's most prestigious circuits and receiving tuition from some very big names in motorsport; frankly it'd be worth competing for even if there wasn't a racing seat for the winner.

On a personal note, despite coming close last year I've never been to Race Camp, and with the rule change this year I might not ever get the chance again, and that's why I'm so upset about the rules being changed. I know that there are plenty of other past territory finalists who feel the same way, and a petition is the best chance we have of convincing SCEE to let us compete again.

Even if they don't change the rules back this year, at the very least I want to be able to compete again next year.

 

[Arveena]

I understand all the points of all the people here. Of course the spanish guys point is valid. Its not the Rule that is bugging me but the communication of GTA, Nissan and Playstation Europe that is just bad.
I will tell you my story exactly so you can understand what I mean. I never wanted to compete in GTA I was to slow and I also had max. a few hours time to train a week because of my studies and work.
I was last year at the Nürburgring watching a VLN race when I saw that GTA was there. I did not even know they were there until then. I was one of the last people there. There were a lot of fast people and even previous finalst who are very fast on the TT. I was never expecting to beat them but I did.
So i went completely unprepared without ever setting a foot in a car with more than 90 HP into the national Final.

We were 32 people 16 from Facebook and Liveevents and 16 from the Onlinequalifier. After the first day most of the facebook people and people from liveevents were eliminated. Their only expierence of the national final was 15min driving GT on Rigs and a 10 min interview. They never saw a car or something. Why should they not be able to compete again?
I made as one of the few who are not qualified online to the second day. Fitnesstest and driving test for the best 16.
The people from Nissan and GT Academy made clear that if you were not ready for the Racecamp you should withdraw and try again next year. There was for example one guy who had 20kg to much. But was in the top 3 in the real driving. He forfeited his place in the Racecamp to another because he knew he had 0 chance of winning it.
That decision was really appriciated by the officials and they whished him good luck for the coming year.

As the decision was getting closer to who gets to the Racecamp they said " Dont be sad if you did not make it to the Racecamp we eliminated a few very promising people so they can try again next year."

One official said to me that i finished 9th and was the best of the people who not qualified online and could not prepare my self for the competetion so i should give my best to qualify again next year.
Based on that information i planned my whole year. I went running, i trained hard online and offline. I bought equipment. I spent a loooot of money in Trackdays. I started a crowdfunding. I did not drink alcohol for one year.

So why are they now not allowing people to compete? i can understand that from the spanish point of view for example but then dont tell everyone they should train hard for one year to compete again.
From a German point of view i can not understand it at all. First round for example. I put a laptime of 2.06.0 on the second day and I am still in the Top 10 Germans with no effort at all.
Also all the 2008-2012 finalst are now super motivated and will try again they will beat the non finalst almost guaranteed. You wont get an advantage if you did not qulified the last year just because 2013 and 2014 are not eligible.
There are still more than 30 finalst who are very fast allowed to go.

TLDR;
Why are just 2013 and 2014 banned from the competetion?
Why are only European Finalist not allowed?
Why were finalst encouraged to train for one year and spend money on seattime?
Why is there no communication at all from all the sources? Last year i got instant replys from GTA facebook account when I had understanding problems oder other issues.

I feel like a little kid who was shown the sweetest candy and then when I reach for it it gets smashed to the ground completely destroying it

 

[Growling]

To be honest, it sucks, of course. But s*** happens..

The German staff/ florian wouldn't have been aware the competition was going to change else they wouldn't have advised you to come back next year.

It doesn't matter what you guys do or say IMO. They've done this for a reason.. Maybe cost? Who knows.

Not being an ass, because I'm in the same boat.. I've trained my butt off for 9 months to get to the point where I can make top 10 in seasonals, and would have probably qualified in the top 14.. But I won't make top 4.

Bottom line is we've just gotta suck it up

 

[TRL_Andromeda]

@Arveena : in Spain and other countries where the number of available spots has been too few, the new rule makes somewhat sense (even tho I dont like it!)
Germany has had too many spots available, and thus the new rule makes no sense whatsoever. Because you have had soooo many people to the nationals, when they become ineligible, there are not anyone left. in Spain there are still a wide array of people to replace the few people that actually made it previous years.

 

[Arveena]

@Arveena : in Spain and other countries where the number of available spots has been too few, the new rule makes somewhat sense (even tho I dont like it!)
Germany has had too many spots available, and thus the new rule makes no sense whatsoever. Because you have had soooo many people to the nationals, when they become ineligible, there are not anyone left. in Spain there are still a wide array of people to replace the few people that actually made it previous years.

Yeah I know everytime i look at the leaderboard I am impressed how many spanish people are there. Is there any reason why so many spanish people are there? Is Simracing so much more popular there?
But the German competetion is a joke now. Immortal is not allowed because of his licenses i guess. So the first German is beaten by 10 spanish guys 6 of them not making it. I dont dare counting how many are there in front of the forth German.

I guess the Problem was with the german organisiers they were counting on having their own competetion again this year and that is not gonna happen. That is why they gave wrong information last year
Still does not explain why only europe is affected by this change and the US is not. The leaderboards of the US are still massivley inflated with previous finalsts

Also it would be just nice if GT Academy answers just one of my letters or Emails.
Just to get an idea of why they changed it. I guess they must messed up something because normally they responded instantly and the customer support was acutally really good. Now its nonexistent

 

[postman09]

The whole point of gtacamey from nissans perspective is to advertise themselves and get good public relations. if things are going to change everyone needs to go out and make themselves herd so that nissan doesnt get the good PR that they want. ultimately we have the power because nissan is nothing without good public reputation (no one will buy there cars lol)

 

[gm matthew]

The whole point of gtacamey from nissans perspective is to advertise themselves and get good public relations. if things are going to change everyone needs to go out and make themselves herd so that nissan doesnt get the good PR that they want. ultimately we have the power because nissan is nothing without good public reputation (no one will buy there cars lol)

GT Academy is a joint venture between Nissan and Sony. As far as I'm aware, Nissan are mostly responsible for training the winners of GT Academy and actually getting them to drive in various motorsports series across the world, while Sony are responsible for running the competition itself. According to the terms and conditions, Sony Computer Entertainment Europe (SCEE) is the promoter of GT Academy in Europe and is therefore responsible for setting the rules, hence it is the company targeted by the petition.

 

[postman09]

GT Academy is a joint venture between Nissan and Sony. As far as I'm aware, Nissan are mostly responsible for training the winners of GT Academy and actually getting them to drive in various motorsports series across the world, while Sony are responsible for running the competition itself. According to the terms and conditions, Sony Computer Entertainment Europe (SCEE) is the promoter of GT Academy in Europe and is therefore responsible for setting the rules, hence it is the company targeted by the petition.

yes which is good. what i said before about nissan also goes for sony. the point is that we need to make ourselvs heard so that changes will happen. petitions, facebookpages and twitter are our friends

 

[RHODRIEWILLIAMS]

I think the whole point of making these guys ineligible is because they have had their chance at the nationals. If they don't make these people ineligible then it will mean the guys that are quick online will be the ones turning up every year that don't win the previous years for a reason. I think it you get to the Nationals then it's an achievement in itself. You have to take that chance and win it from there. If not then game over

Its like the F1 ladder its easy to look a star in f3/GP3 in the first year. Come to GP2 its going to take multiple attempts to be a champion the standard is so high. If you reduce the standard of a championship you look good but learn a lot less.

 

[O_howell20]

Its like the F1 ladder its easy to look a star in f3/GP3 in the first year. Come to GP2 its going to take multiple attempts to be a champion the standard is so high. If you reduce the standard of a championship you look good but learn a lot less.

I can see all your guys points and I understand but how many people are we talking about being ineligible? In England 2013 and 2014 14 people went to the Nationals each year? 6 of which went to race camp? Which leaves 8 each year that didn't make it and become ineligible for the following years. that's 16 people in total to be ineligible? Out of 100,000 people do you think that will change the rules of such a successful academy. Or have I missed something?

 

[rclark83]

I can see all your guys points and I understand but how many people are we talking about being ineligible? In England 2013 and 2014 14 people went to the Nationals each year? 6 of which went to race camp? Which leaves 8 each year that didn't make it and become ineligible for the following years. that's 16 people in total to be ineligible? Out of 100,000 people do you think that will change the rules of such a successful academy. Or have I missed something?

28 people was at last years uk finals alone.