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

[new_soul]

technical failures hapen in racing, thats a thing every racer in every competition will be confronted.

in this case nobody expected this to hapen, im sorry for Timppaq, i dont think it was unfair to keep racing, in the end this is a competition where the winer will be racing real cars and may have all kind of technical problems, and even more dramatic race or championship decidind tecnical problems.

it all comes unexpected, but it is a part of racing..

 

[The Outlaw]

Brock, it might be best to consider that it's the individual countries organisers who are to blame.

In most cases for negative feedback, there has been a solution. But Sony, Nissan arn't directly in control of how these events are run and each event company is to blame for experiences like this. Still waiting to hear a more thorough description, but you can't really blame Sony or Nissan as they've put their faith in established event oranisers.

The proof of the pudding will be the UK finals. I'll be PM'ing anyone who will be involved, with some bullet points I'd like to read out on the Tuesday night before the event, to clear a lot of this stuff up so that we can all agree. Whether it be equipment failure, the possibility of running Prologue, or lack of care for marshalling it'd be nice to just use everyone elses examples, to set our own.

This isn't a frequent, or common type of international event to organise. Every event will uncover new difficulties that require solutions...even more so than the abundance of established motorsport authorities around the globe.

But equipment failing sounds totally obsure. We need further details, ASAP...

Again, gutted for Timppaq.

Congrats to their final winner though. It's unfair to take anything away from them.

Sony IS to blame for this, regardless if the blame lies on national or international organizers. The bottom line is that there is one company involved (setting up the gaming side of it) and they must work together to organize this competition as professionally as possible between the countries, and thus far they've failed massively to ensure this.

No one else but Sony and Nissan are funding and organizing GT Academy, so the blame can only lie on these companies (Sony in particular for the gaming side of it).

It's kind of like owning a construction and sending your employees out to build a small house, and having a situation where the quality is absolute crap and not what the customer or you (the owner) expected. In the end the blame still lies on the company (you the owner) for even employing such incompetent/ untrained people to do such work. You can't just shy away and tell the customer you had nothing to do with it, because in the end you are the one who is completely responsible for the work done.

 

[superwally]

technical failures hapen in racing, thats a thing every racer in every competition will be confronted.

in this case nobody expected this to hapen, im sorry for Timppaq, i dont think it was unfair to keep racing, in the end this is a competition where the winer will be racing real cars and may have all kind of technical problems, and even more dramatic race or championship decidind tecnical problems.

it all comes unexpected, but it is a part of racing..

Yeah, a lot of steering wheels fall off in real racing....WTF are you talking about? If there was damage modeling in the game, and Timo wrecked the car, fine, I can see your point. But he didn't get a fair shot at his race because his equipment was essentially defective-would it be fair if his pedals didn't function properly?

It' not 'all part of racing' in this case, someone dropped the ball and took no responsibility for it. It's not like they were in the middle of a 10 hour enduro, it could easily have been corrected.

 

[.pixr]

It's a good thing I didnt go to the event to win, I'd have been very annoyed otherwise (for reasons mentioned by pixr).

Cheers to everyone I spoke to at the event!

Unfortunately didn't speak with to many contestants, I was really annoyed and then I know I don't have the most inviting look on my face

Thanks for the video's. Nice to see how it all panned out.
I was already on my way home when the final was held

To be honest I aspected more reactions on the dutch (gt) forums about my complaints, but apparently I was one of few who felt that way

He had some bad luck in the final, his steering wheel loosened during the Nordschleife race..!

Makes you wonder if this is a lottery (hardware failure) or a serious competition ? That really sucks...

 

[cpp214]

Wow. First Bruno, and now Timo
As others have said, I'm really gutted by hearing this news.
Two of the very best out there are not going to be at
Silverstone. I really hate to hear that. I was really rooting for
you guys to get there.

There's no excuse for a mechanical failure like what apparently happened in Timo's case. Although the DFGT doesn't have hardmount points like the G25, the organizers should have really made sure that the wheels were solidly fastened, and in the event that a wheel does come loose, that should be an automatic re-run.

Congratulations to Dan Holland and Tizzla on their victories.
And congratulations to DEVIE on a great run in the Australian finals.

And good luck to all the finalists in Great Britain--Maz, Ian, Hyperspeed, Stotty, etc.

 

[Calcifer12]

Pixr.
Dont think your face had anything to do with it mate (im the proof ). You just gotta say hello out of the blue and figure out some PSN nicks with faces

As for the general opinion. I think most agreed with you. However, no one feels like dragging this thing any further as its no use.

Who were you on the group picture? (Im the one with the white pants)

 

[MeAgainstYou]

technical failures hapen in racing, thats a thing every racer in every competition will be confronted.

let me see if i get it! this is a competition to find the best GT drivers right!? imagine if in silverstone someone crashed a car that would be used for the final race... will they put a driver out because of that or will they find another way to please every participant!? if they pick the 1st choice... they might be losing a really good talent.... they will miss the big shot of the whole competition that is FIND THE BEST..

in this type of competition we cant count on that.. broken wheels or what so ever... must to be a plan B to make things fair for everyone.. or should we take our wheel to the finals!?

i think that at this point we all already found the spirit of this competition...

 

[Calcifer12]

Timppaq lost on fair grounds. Its his own mistake not to sabotage his opponents wheels

 

[The Outlaw]

Timppaq lost on fair grounds. Its his own mistake not to sabotage his opponents wheels

Or to hire someone to shoot spit balls at his opponents Because it's not like the organizors would have cared anyway

 

[GTP_rpm]

Sony IS to blame for this, regardless if the blame lies on national or international organizers. The bottom line is that there is one company involved (setting up the gaming side of it) and they must work together to organize this competition as professionally as possible between the countries, and thus far they've failed massively to ensure this.

No one else but Sony and Nissan are funding and organizing GT Academy, so the blame can only lie on these companies (Sony in particular for the gaming side of it).

It's kind of like owning a construction and sending your employees out to build a small house, and having a situation where the quality is absolute crap and not what the customer or you (the owner) expected. In the end the blame still lies on the company (you the owner) for even employing such incompetent/ untrained people to do such work. You can't just shy away and tell the customer you had nothing to do with it, because in the end you are the one who is completely responsible for the work done.

Lke I said, the construction company isn't in direct control of how the house is built, but you're correct - they are still responsible.

But this isn't building a normal house. It's something that is a fresh build and there will be teething problems.

I still feel gutted for Sony, Nissan and PD and if they come away from these competitions with total negative feedback I feel that we won't have these again. That would be complete fail...but understandable considering the responses we're getting on here

 

[vompatti]

Scandinavian Final, Lap 1. Diitsi from Finnish gaming site KonsoliFIN asked to put it up in here. Lap 2 can be found from post #651



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_-zjCTFe2Zs

On left screen is the Nordic winner Ocer_FI. On right screen GTP_Timppaq (on a bad day) in a black car.
Yellow=Forza-Iceman, Blue=Midmark.


Unofficial Nordic-final standings:

1. Ocer_FI (Finland)
2. Midmark (Sweden)
3. Forza-Iceman (Finland)
4. GTP_Timppaq (Finland)

Thanks to Oliver for the additional info and Sphinx for fixing the link.

 

[Dessy182]

On the topic of the wheel coming off..

About a week after buying my DFGT, one of the clamps that secure it to the table snapped off while I was playing. So for the duration of the TT I had the problem of the wheel slipping off due to the vibrations and fighting with it. It was quite annoying having to push it in every few minutes as it slipped out on one side.
But this was something that happened in my own home. I can't believe that in the actual competition the wheel would become loose. It's very, very unfortunate. I don't know Timppaq, but I know he is a great GT player and this sucks.

My national final is tomorrow and I will be checking my clamps are tight before I play.

Also congrats to everyone who made it through and best of luck to everyone still to compete 👍

 

[vompatti]

On the topic of the wheel coming off..

About a week after buying my DFGT, one of the clamps that secure it to the table snapped off while I was playing.

They had G25's in the Scandinavian event.

http://www.konsolifin.net/playstation/uutiset/7053/


Edit: The wheels were of course G27's as you can see from the pictures if you actually look at them (something I didn't do I guess), not G25's.

 

[Oliver]

Scandinavian final lap1. Diitsi from Finnish gaming site KonsoliFIN asked to put it up in here.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_-zjCTFe2Zs

On left screen is the Nordic winner Ocer_FI in a red car. On right screen is GTP_Timppaq (on a bad day) in a black car.
Yellow=Forza-Iceman, Blue=Midmark.

Unofficial Nordic-final standings:

1. Ocer_FI (Finland)
2. Midmark (Sweden)
3. Forza-Iceman (Finland)
4. GTP_Timppaq (Finland)

 

[GTP_rpm]

They had G25's in the Scandinavian event.

http://www.konsolifin.net/playstation/uutiset/7053/

OMG!

Seems they won't let us prepare for this event at all.

 

[new_soul]

let me see if i get it! this is a competition to find the best GT drivers right!? imagine if in silverstone someone crashed a car that would be used for the final race... will they put a driver out because of that or will they find another way to please every participant!? if they pick the 1st choice... they might be losing a really good talent.... they will miss the big shot of the whole competition that is FIND THE BEST..

well being the best and the fastest is not 100% garanted win, you have to have 0.1 % more of luck than everybody else, i se thes organisators are going that way,
they cold have restarted, everybody wold be happy, but the fact that ther was no restatr kind a proves that they are wiling to give a chance not to the best, but also the luckyest.

 

[The Outlaw]

But this isn't building a normal house. It's something that is a fresh build and there will be teething problems.:

But how difficult is it to ensure equal equipment and fair play to all, in order to find the best driver? It's a simple case of them not trying hard enough to organize the competition properly, because they certainly have the recourses to do so 👎 They're just lacking the effort to organize a well thought out event because they don't find it so necessary to put forth the effort, since the profit isn't so pre-eminently there.

I still feel gutted for Sony, Nissan and PD and if they come away from these competitions with total negative feedback I feel that we won't have these again. That would be complete fail...but understandable considering the responses we're getting on here

Why would you feel gutted for Sony, Nissan and PD??? They will lose next to nothing even if this competition is unsuccessful. They will still be multi million/billion dollar companies making a living off of our money for years to come regardless. There only shooting themselves in the foot for making this competition look bad and missing out on some of the best GT racers around to fill their race seat. I have no reason to feel sorry for them! I only feel sorry for the people who have spent hundreds or thousands of dollars on their GT set-up (with lots of money going to Sony), thousands of hours practicing to prepare for GT Academy only to have their dreams shot down by the complete misfortune of Sony's failings and unprofessionalism.

well being the best and the fastest is not 100% garanted win, you have to have 0.1 % more of luck than everybody else, i se thes organisators are going that way,
they cold have restarted, everybody wold be happy, but the fact that ther was no restatr kind a proves that they are wiling to give a chance not to the best, but also the luckyest.

@ your reasoning. So basically a driver could have a complete failure of the display moniter and you would say: "sorry, that's just the way it goes".

 

[mikifaca1]

I see that many here were hoping/expecting that timppaq was going to win in scandinavia and therfore all feel sorry for him, and most of people think now that this is unfair competition and all that, since their favourite didn`t won.

I think timppaq is fantastic driver as many of you others who think the same.But about the steering wheel and that his steering wheel loosened, I think it is his own fault. I would like to see the replay of whole final and see how timppaq was driving. In the practice lap in the final timppaq drove very well without any mistakes i think. But when race began, he was leading the race and suddenly he turned around, and he didnt managed to get car back on the track fast enough, and because of frustration I think he pulled the steering wheel really hard towards him. I think that this is the reason that his wheel loosened. So I think that it is his own fault.

As I sad, i think timppaq is fantastic driver but I think that Ocer_FI deserved to win at the end. Before the final began I was hoping that timppaq would win, but I had a feeling that Ocer would win, and this is because i saw how they drived in round 1 and 2 before the final.

Ocer was much more stable in his driving while timppaq was maybe too nervous and he had some almost spinning out of track both in round 1 and round 2. In this situations I also think timppaq was very aggressive with the steering wheel, and the same thing happend in the final.

So I think that Ocer`s win was more than deserved and it the end I think the best driver won.Sorry timppaq. Timppaq is very good driver when everything goes perfect but ocer drived much more stable and this is what racing is all about. Drive fast as possible without making mistakes.

Congratulations OCER_FI

 

[MeAgainstYou]

well being the best and the fastest is not 100% garanted win, you have to have 0.1 % more of luck than everybody else, i se thes organisators are going that way,
they cold have restarted, everybody wold be happy, but the fact that ther was no restatr kind a proves that they are wiling to give a chance not to the best, but also the luckyest.

i can agree a bit more with you now.. but i would give 50-50 to the lucky thing

after watching the video it seams that the wheel is jumping from the beginning of the race...

 

[GTP_rpm]

Well, we will have to agree to disagree Brock.

Chances are we won't see this comp. again if that's the overall feeling. I just feel sorry for them in the sense that they've tried this, been brave enough to give it a go, unlike any other manufacturer and are still getting negative feedback.

Yes, they've made errors by employing poor event companies, but I'll hold total judgement until I see how the UK one runs for myself with my own eyes.

If I get there and am faced with Mario Kart, I'll still be happy just being allowed to meet all the guys from the forum and those who arn't. Anyone wanting to change their life, based on a computer game does in my opinion - need a reality check.

I will though conceed, some events sound they've been run poorly. But I won't blame PD, Nissan or Sony directly...not until after my finals anyway

 

[Oliver]

They had G25's in the Scandinavian event.

http://www.konsolifin.net/playstation/uutiset/7053/

Those were G27's... (six red buttons and LED-shift indicators...)

 

[MeAgainstYou]

But when race began, he was leading the race and suddenly he turned around, and he didnt managed to get car back on the track fast enough, and because of frustration I think he pulled the steering wheel really hard towards him. I think that this is the reason that his wheel loosened. So I think that it is his own fault.

are you serious!? because everyone will think you are a clown... dont think in that way.. you have no right to accuse him of that! 👎

btw.. its your 1st post here, and you start with this!?... hi... bye!

 

[DGiant2000]

Those were G27's... (six red buttons and LED-shift indicators...)

Good job they didn't resort to running prologue as well then, with no sequential shifting, people would really have been scuppered.

 

[vompatti]

Those were G27's... (six red buttons and LED-shift indicators...)

Oops, so I see. I just looked that they aren't DFGT's, so they are G25's... So I'll go to edit my posts (again..). Thanks.

 

[GTP_rpm]

...I've set a DFGT up on a WheelStandPro that was meant to fit a G25. It's only using the poxy plastic clamps on a 1cm thick (if that) piece of metal.

But if they were using the G27's...surely they'd of been clamped down with bolts etc, like G25's are? No?

P.s. MAY, I love you for your enthusiasm but calm down Let's wait until we have all the evidence aye

 

[mikifaca1]

are you serious!? because everyone will think you are a clown... dont think in that way.. you have no right to accuse him of that! 👎

btw.. its your 1st post here, and you start with this!?... hi... bye!

Firstly, You can just keep you mouth closed to say it really carefully, I am telling you that. You dont know what you are talking about. You havent been there and you have no opinion of what happen so Í recommend you to not say anything more.

Secondly, I am not ACCUSING anyone but I just sad what I think happend there and I dont say that what I think is the right thing.

I may be a clown but I think best driver won in the end, even though I would like to see timppaq in silverstone.

 

[The Outlaw]

Well, we will have to agree to disagree Brock.

Fair enough 👍

Chances are we won't see this comp. again if that's the overall feeling. I just feel sorry for them in the sense that they've tried this, been brave enough to give it a go, unlike any other manufacturer and are still getting negative feedback.

I surely doubt they are listening in on the negative feedback anyway, which is mostly limited to this forum and a few folks who have already been eliminated in the finals, who unfortunately have extremely limited or meaningful communication with the people in charge of organizing GT Academy.

Doing a 3rd GT Academy would fall on many other more important criteria (like the number of people who competed- several million was it?).

Yes, they've made errors by employing poor event companies, but I'll hold total judgement until I see how the UK one runs for myself with my own eyes.

If I get there and am faced with Mario Kart, I'll still be happy just being allowed to meet all the guys from the forum and those who arn't. Anyone wanting to change their life, based on a computer game does in my opinion - need a reality check.

Then what are you competing for? You honestly have no desire to win the whole competition and have a factory race seat for a year? Blasphemy!

I will though conceed, some events sound they've been run poorly. But I won't blame PD, Nissan or Sony directly...not until after my finals anyway

That just sounds a bit selfish to be honest. Disregard the misfortune of others until you witness the misfortune for yourself or worse yet are a victim?

 

[MeAgainstYou]

...I've set a DFGT up on a WheelStandPro that was meant to fit a G25. It's only using the poxy plastic clamps on a 1cm thick (if that) piece of metal.

But if they were using the G27's...surely they'd of been clamped down with bolts etc, like G25's are? No?

P.s. MAY, I love you for your enthusiasm but calm down Let's wait until we have all the evidence aye

i can't handle with a foreigner that just registered here to say things like that about a friend of us, can you!?...

@mikifaca1: your thoughts might hurt people.. and you're not free to say whatever you want/think in the community!

 

[RUFin]

But when race began, he was leading the race and suddenly he turned around, and he didnt managed to get car back on the track fast enough, and because of frustration I think he pulled the steering wheel really hard towards him. I think that this is the reason that his wheel loosened. So I think that it is his own fault.

Congratulations OCER_FI

I think this is excactly what happened,even if other 'insiders' feel differently.

 

[The Outlaw]

If that is the case and the reason for the wheel coming loose, then it is more understandable that they did not re-run the race.

I'm sure Timppaq will give us the true story soon enough 👍