- 603
- South Africa
- david_perel
Hey everyone, I’ve been holding off on posting this for years but thought now would be a good time with the GT Academy qualifying rounds wrapping up soon.
Like many of you here, when I was a young boy all I wanted to do was become a racing driver. My dad raced Formula Fords in his early 20’s and I would stare at those photos all day long and wear his motorbike helmet whenever I could.
Around the time I was 12 years old I got a Playstation and an old clanky steering wheel & pedal setup to play an F1 game. I couldn’t put that game down and quickly realised that even though I wasn’t at a real race track, I was able to simulate real life driving with a video game.
Halfway through my 14th year, a series of events lead me to a local karting track and for the first time ever I got the smell of petrol and rubber. Soon after I managed to convince my dad to get me a kart and from then on I aggressively pursued my dream of becoming a racing driver.
We lived far from the track though and I couldn’t practice often, so to replace that gap I’d use Gran Turismo to put in the laps.
By the time I was 23 I was a National Champion, podium finisher at the World Championships and about to get myself into a single seater. By the second race I was challenging for podiums but by the time race four came around I’d run out of money and was forced to stop.
Throughout my teens and early 20’s I was an avid GTPlanet member and competed in as many WSR’s as I could, often finishing in the top three and sometimes winning. I truly considered myself a gamer that went racing in real life as opposed to a racing driver who ‘could play GT’.
As crazy as it seems today, my approach of using videos games to practice for real life was never taken seriously. I’d often get laughed at by teams and competitors for even mentioning Gran Turismo and Real Life in the same sentence.
About a year after I stopped racing the GT Academy became a Worldwide event. America, Asia and all of Europe were invited to compete. Unfortunately South Africa wasn’t eligible, so technically I couldn’t qualify but I registered a UK account anyway and got stuck in.
I ended up 3rd quickest overall in the online events but because of my nationality and my racing license I didn't qualify. Even though I knew the rules, I was upset that someone with top 20 potential couldn’t make it through.
Not one to let myself get down I decided that the only way I’d make it back into racing was if it was on my own terms and more money. From then on I turned to my business (which I started with my brother) and worked day and night for years with the aim of saving enough money to give racing another shot.
My hard work paid off and just last week I competed in the Italian GT Championships for Lamborghini Bergamo in the GT Cup class. I ended up winning race one and placing second in heat two, despite a 15 second handicap as a result of our victory in race one.
It took me close to 6 years to get back into a racing car and to this day I still look at the GT Academy drivers and wonder ‘what if…’ but I just wanted to let you all know that if you don’t qualify today, don’t worry there are other opportunities.
If you truly believe in yourself and your abilities then don’t give up, back yourself 100% and do whatever you can to prove everyone wrong. Just don’t forget to keep using Gran Turismo for practice and simulation.
It worked for me.
Like many of you here, when I was a young boy all I wanted to do was become a racing driver. My dad raced Formula Fords in his early 20’s and I would stare at those photos all day long and wear his motorbike helmet whenever I could.
Around the time I was 12 years old I got a Playstation and an old clanky steering wheel & pedal setup to play an F1 game. I couldn’t put that game down and quickly realised that even though I wasn’t at a real race track, I was able to simulate real life driving with a video game.
Halfway through my 14th year, a series of events lead me to a local karting track and for the first time ever I got the smell of petrol and rubber. Soon after I managed to convince my dad to get me a kart and from then on I aggressively pursued my dream of becoming a racing driver.
We lived far from the track though and I couldn’t practice often, so to replace that gap I’d use Gran Turismo to put in the laps.
By the time I was 23 I was a National Champion, podium finisher at the World Championships and about to get myself into a single seater. By the second race I was challenging for podiums but by the time race four came around I’d run out of money and was forced to stop.
Throughout my teens and early 20’s I was an avid GTPlanet member and competed in as many WSR’s as I could, often finishing in the top three and sometimes winning. I truly considered myself a gamer that went racing in real life as opposed to a racing driver who ‘could play GT’.
As crazy as it seems today, my approach of using videos games to practice for real life was never taken seriously. I’d often get laughed at by teams and competitors for even mentioning Gran Turismo and Real Life in the same sentence.
About a year after I stopped racing the GT Academy became a Worldwide event. America, Asia and all of Europe were invited to compete. Unfortunately South Africa wasn’t eligible, so technically I couldn’t qualify but I registered a UK account anyway and got stuck in.
I ended up 3rd quickest overall in the online events but because of my nationality and my racing license I didn't qualify. Even though I knew the rules, I was upset that someone with top 20 potential couldn’t make it through.
Not one to let myself get down I decided that the only way I’d make it back into racing was if it was on my own terms and more money. From then on I turned to my business (which I started with my brother) and worked day and night for years with the aim of saving enough money to give racing another shot.
My hard work paid off and just last week I competed in the Italian GT Championships for Lamborghini Bergamo in the GT Cup class. I ended up winning race one and placing second in heat two, despite a 15 second handicap as a result of our victory in race one.
It took me close to 6 years to get back into a racing car and to this day I still look at the GT Academy drivers and wonder ‘what if…’ but I just wanted to let you all know that if you don’t qualify today, don’t worry there are other opportunities.
If you truly believe in yourself and your abilities then don’t give up, back yourself 100% and do whatever you can to prove everyone wrong. Just don’t forget to keep using Gran Turismo for practice and simulation.
It worked for me.
