GT Academy National Finals - Venues, Dates, Drivers & Discussion Thread

[Owen.C93]

Must say it's nice to see all you finalists joining GTplanet.

 

[MeAgainstYou]

He must be truly amazing!! May said the target was 8.10.xxx

are you kidding me? Lacombe is using tuned car... look at the gears.. remember.. "232km/h" to change from 5th to 6th gear im not that noob to make 1 minute slower than him..

 

[Horde_R35]

are you kidding me? Lacombe is using tuned car... look at the gears.. remember.. "232km/h" to change from 5th to 6th gear im not that noob to make 1 minute slower than him..

I know mate! I really was kidding. At the beginnig it was a joke, but you can read my other posts where i clear that out!

 

[MeAgainstYou]

i know my friend look at the other nurburgring video... amazing lap by group2 👍

i think i can say nurburgring was from far the best thing that happened for all portuguese finalists except for the winner... it was only 1 lap but breath taking... very accurate circuit.. we can feel every little bump on the tarmac...

 

[Horde_R35]

i know my friend look at the other nurburgring video... amazing lap by group2 👍

i think i can say nurburgring was from far the best thing that happened for all portuguese finalists except for the winner... it was only 1 lap but breath taking... very accurate circuit.. we can feel every little bump on the tarmac...

It must be sweet! I almost miss GT4 because of that! With the GT5 demo physics must be breath taking! Well probably meet there often!

EDIT: I can imagine the rear jumping and sliding in those "little" tarmac bumps!

 

[Owen.C93]

I would of thought that these competitions would of been an ideal time to test the upload to youtube feature.

 

[fasj6418]

I would of thought that these competitions would of been an ideal time to test the upload to youtube feature.

Sure it would, but don't forget they have monkeys working on their PR department.

 

[eSZee]

Edit: After reading my post it looks a bit accusatory. Not my intention. Please note that I do not think it was deliberate ramming (he does lift off), it's just not "excellent" in those points.

agree, the guy just drove as if he didn't belong there. Taking wrong lines(following driving line), braking too late/early and too hard/light. He just looked like someone very unfamiliar with the track.

Dude drives like a pro. Ultra smooth:tup:

He's been racing gokarts for a while...

 

[hornet_burnout]

Please take into account they are driving with Normal tyres.
@2.25 MeAgainstYou (blue car) missed the brake point and the other pilot (Hunter_4_6; the winner in the final) didn't have time to break or correct, due to the lack of grip.

@6.50 he made one of the two mistakes I saw him make throughout the day.

Although I couldn't see all the races since I was the interpreter of the TV media crew and had to interview almost the entire group of 20 participants, I managed to see most of the races, specially in the more advanced phases.
We were surprised by the reduced number of mistakes they made in the Phase 2 (semi-finals) races, all with normal tyres.

One interesting fact about the PT GT Academy winner: Hunter_4_6 started his participation in the qualifying to the final only four days (on thursday) before the deadline (on monday). He saw the announcement of the GT Academy in the GT site almost by accident and downloaded the demo by then and played only when necessary to remain in the first 20 with access to the final. A happy series of events allowed him to reach the final and win.

MAY misfortune shouldn't have happened and justice in the result would be possible if the Judge wasn't so tired and interested in finishing all that. He should and could have stopped that race to allow a clean restart.

I already posted my words of support in GTPT forum; but wanted to share it with all in GTP.

He was ultra-cool and clean, and that gave him the edge. Maybe a bit of luck also to come out ahead. After all, meagainstyou was just in the "wrong" place in the nurburgring making his card hard to miss (unless the other guy braked hard), and got punted by someone else in Indy.

Like I said, I did not want to take anything away from his win and accuse him of unfair driving. I know the ring well, and I don't think I'd handle that well under all the pressure!

Indy should have been a restart...

 

[GT5rs_vidor]

The tires were R1/R1. I'm the one who shot this video, so i'm pretty sure of it.

With 370Z Tuned

 

[jctraduz]

He was ultra-cool and clean, and that gave him the edge. Maybe a bit of luck also to come out ahead. After all, meagainstyou was just in the "wrong" place in the nurburgring making his card hard to miss (unless the other guy braked hard), and got punted by someone else in Indy.

Indeed, MAY was touched and put out of race at least twice and from what I saw he never touched anyone.

It will be my final comment: if it would be by merit, MAY should have won. He was unlucky and unjustifiably prejudiced. I hope someone learns from this for the future.

 

[hornet_burnout]

We agree 101% there, "this" is taken as seriously as real reacing, and I think that is the purpose of the game and the intention of the developper. This spirit should be transposed to these events, and not make them just pub/marketing sunts.

 

[The Outlaw]

agree, the guy just drove as if he didn't belong there. Taking wrong lines(following driving line), braking too late/early and too hard/light. He just looked like someone very unfamiliar with the track.

What do you mean he drove as if he didn't belong there? He earned his spot in finals and that's that. It's just that your expectations are completely unrealistic. Also, just because your car is placed over the driving line at a certain part of the track, doesn't mean you're taking an improper line (obviously). For the most part he wasn't following the driving line when it was less than ideal to do so...making your comment of criticism unnecessary.

More importantly, it was a track that no competitor had driven on before, in a car that you must drive with extreme caution. You're better off pushing at 75-80% when you don't know the exact limits of the car and track that well, rather than pushing at 95%-100% and risking an off every minute or two along the way. It's easy to sit back and judge from your point of view, because you weren't the one behind the wheel in such a foreign situation. I mean how should one know the exact intricacies of a 13 mile course with about 100 corner (that they've never seen in this particular version-GT5), when they've driven but one warm up lap? Maybe you would understand just how difficult it would be if you were given the opportunity, and not watching footage of the lap, sitting back looking for errors to pick out and to comment on.

 

[eSZee]

No one else seemed to have the same problems he did. No one else cost others races.
He looked very cautious and nervous and that has no place on a track.
If your defense for him is that it was a new situation for him, new surrounding and such, then you're not doing a great job defending him. None of that should affect him.

This is just my opinion on this whole time trial thing, but, sony did a terrible thing by letting it run for a month or so. That pretty much gave people who had no shot, run the same lap over and over to get better times. In the further rounds, its purely natural skill as you don't have weeks to prepare. The demo should've been open for 3-5 days at most and winners should be picked from there. It seems that some of the people that did go though, have less natural skill and made it through cause they repeated the same lap hundreds and thousands of times. When they got to the final it showed they weren't on the same level.

 

[The Outlaw]

No one else seemed to have the same problems he did. No one else cost others races. .

First of all, he didn't cost anyone their race in this semi-final...as MAY still took the win regardless of their contact...which neither driver was to blame for.

Also, in the Final (which he won), this driver was completely uninvolved with the dramatic pile up heading into turn 1....so I don't see why you're saying "no one else cost others races.."

He looked very cautious and nervous and that has no place on a track.
If your defense for him is that it was a new situation for him, new surrounding and such, then you're not doing a great job defending him. None of that should affect him.

He was in 1st place for a good portion of the race until he made that one mistake torward the end, which allowed MAY to regain 1st. Obviously his "cautious/nervous" driving paid off in the end, as he was the one who avoided the 1st turn pile up (despite starting behind MAY).

And no I'm not talking about the foreign surroundings having an impact on his driving...I'm talking about a 13 mile combo that he has only had the oppurtunity of lapping once. Your expectations are still unrealistic and rather annoying...

This is just my opinion on this whole time trial thing, but, sony did a terrible thing by letting it run for a month or so. That pretty much gave people who had no shot play the same lap over and over to get better times. In the further rounds, its purely natural skill as you don't have weeks to prepare. The demo should've been open for 3-5 days at most and winners should be taken from there. It seems that some of the people that did go though, have no natural skill and made it through cause they repeated the same lap hundred and thousands of times. When they got to the final it showed they weren't on the same level.

I agree to an extent that it would have been best had each driver only been given a limited amount of running, but regardless...you can't discredit the people who put in a lot of time and hard work. As dedication and will power are just as important as natural talent in the end.

 

[IsmokeGT]

I agree to an extent that it would have been best had each driver only been given a limited amount of running, but regardless...you can't discredit the people who put in a lot of time and hard work. As dedication and will power are just as important as natural talent.

Coming from TA, after the battle he and Carl just had, that is a very wise statement. 👍

To dave- "In order to form an immaculate member of a flock of sheep one must, above all, be a sheep."

 

[CodeRedR51]

This is what the finalists get to drive at Silverstone:

 

[The Outlaw]

Sonsabitches...

 

[eSZee]

I worded it wrong I guess. He didn't cost people races but the mistakes he made cost them some time during those races. He made it harder than it should've been for some people.

 

[Strop]

It's going to be interesting seeing the finalists squeeze into the car. Judging by the pictures quite a few of them are very tall and in the racing world that's actually pretty rare, they tend to be little guys (or at least short). Still amazes me how Alan Jones ever managed to squeeze into an F1 car.

 

[eSZee]

It looks like a regular nISMO 370Z with stickers.. I'm 6'3" and had no problem driving it for long periods of time. It's quite comfortable but I'm used to stiff suspension so it might not mean much to you.

 

[Louie_Schumii]

This is what the finalists get to drive at Silverstone:

Won't they be tested on a stock 370 first (after all the medicals)?

 

[joshmuggo]

when and where will we get to see footage etc of GT Academy at silverstone?

Because Australia wasn't in it last year I dont think we got the footage straight away.

wandering how long after the event it came out last year. and where you could watch it?

 

[joshmuggo]

By the way, I cant Believe the swiss got to do real driving in 370Z's at their final. and i mean proper driving too!

I hope they make it a uniform format next year for everybody.

that way we can all have the same experiences, get the same goodies, and have a level playing field with proper judging.

 

[SVX]

Congratulations to everyone!

 

[Horde_R35]

Must say it's nice to see all you finalists joining GTplanet.

Its very nice indeed mate:tup:, but the one guy i would really like to see here and make a man out of himself, by saying: "Im sorry!", is the guy that bumped MAY ! That would make him a gentleman!

 

[FLASH48]

Very nice looking car!! Just needed to be 42 years younger, and overall about 3.500 sec faster and lived in Europe. I might have had a chance to drive that yellow car!

 

[Nanaki]

By the way, I cant Believe the swiss got to do real driving in 370Z's at their final.

The french too (their final was at the same place - Paul Ricard track).

 

[bullie77]

A final word on the portuguese final...

1) MAY's driving ability is well known. And his "misfortune" at the final race does not decrease his merit and skills. He's most likely the fastest, more consistent and skillful portuguese GT player around.

2) The reactions we are getting from fellow portuguese posters, who seemed to be even more upset with the situation then MAY itself (he deal with it pretty well - my hat's off to you), it's getting, in my honest opinion ridiculous (sorry!); I'm not sure if the driver 'apparently' responsible for the accident reads this forum but, if he does I'm pretty sure that his feeling pretty bad with all this fuzz. People are getting to the point of demanding public excuses from the guy...

3) Another person who is probably getting little disgusted about it also should be probably the actual winner of the event - who, I recall, wasn't involved in the accident in th 1st turn of the finals. His merit on winning the event his '0' accordingly to some of the posts that we've read. No matter how much some people are disappointed about MAY didn't manage to get to Silverstone, there's an actual winner of the event that had merit for it - merit for being on the finals, passing the eliminatory stages and holding it up through the last race. Please respect that and respect him!

 

[Jack]

I wasn't going to post in this thread about the MAY crashes as it will just add fuel to the fire, but some points being made are just ridiculous...

Firstly, I think the driving line is mainly at fault for the Indy crash. I've said it before, the driving line does NOT work in a race. Drivers defend the line and not the corner, if they are on the line they believe they have right of way and they tend to follow the line instead of taking their own and leaving space. I'm not saying the Indy crash was 100% MAY's fault but if you look at the line he takes, he takes the ideal and perfect line. This is something you can very rarley do at the first corner of a race. Somebody of MAY's expirence in many online races and competitions should know this. No matter who you are racing you MUST give everybody space, as one touch will ruin it. You must be aware of everybody around, late brakers and all your competitors. I dont think the black car is fully at fault the way some guys are pointing out.

The second nurburgring crash I do believe its MAY's fault. You can see the guy back off early to allow MAY space and avoid running into the back of him under brakes. The guy is barley on the throttle in the corner and when the accident actually takes place, he's on the brakes trying to avoid it. MAY caused the accident by taking too much speed into the corner and slamming on the brakes. The car following had no where to go and the bump was unavoidable.

I'm gutted for MAY not making Silverstone and maybe on another day you would have made it, but I think everyone needs to look at these videos and learn. Just because they have made the national finals, doesn't mean you can treat it any differently to an online race in 5. Treat it as you racing randoms online, nerves and the atmosphere can change all of that in a racer...