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

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I just read the Belgian finals are tomorrow. Im very anxious to see how they will be run. Will they too have GT5P and TT?
If Im not mistaken the event is at Spa, so cant be all bad yeah? :D
 
I just read the Belgian finals are tomorrow. Im very anxious to see how they will be run. Will they too have GT5P and TT?
If Im not mistaken the event is at Spa, so cant be all bad yeah? :D
The final is not even near the track, so I'm not expecting very much of it.
I just hope it isn't GT5P:yuck:
 
My view on that spanish final is that it was great, much more interesting and exciting than the others to watch. In real life, racing is a business and those spanish racers would sell more spectator tickets than clean conservative racers. I think Its more likely they would be successful racing drivers. Will be interested to see how the finalists do at silverstone.
 
The final is not even near the track, so I'm not expecting very much of it.
I just hope it isn't GT5P:yuck:

Final is over. And yeah, it was just like The Netherlands: GT5P, only time trails :yuck:. Each of us had 5 laps in each round, only the best laps counts, there was a different circuit for each round. There were 4 GT5P pods. Ow yeah, the car was the GT-R :dunce:.

Round 1: Daytona Road.

All participants were listed alphabetically. My name starts with a W, so I was one of the last ones to do there laps and knew what time I had to do to go through. In the end I was 3rd with a 1'53.741, so I was into the semi finals.

Semi final: Fuji

I love Fuji, so I knew I would do good here. Again I was in the last group of 4 to do my laps, with 1'43.8 or so being the best time so far. Did a 1'43.1 on my 3rd lap and won this round by 0.3 sec. I was in the final :D.

Final: Suzuka

Before the competition started I did a few laps at Suz to get used to the wheel. Best lap then was 2'16.8xx. Here we could only do the laps 1 at a time, in reverse order of the results at Fuji. As I won that, I was last to go. Also note that I was the only Flemmish participant in the Final, the others were from the French part of Belgium.
As the first guy finished his laps, his best time was 2'12.4xx. The 2nd guy beat that by about 0.8 sec to do a 2'11.625, or so I thought. The 3rd guy (2nd at Fuji) only did a 2'12.2, so I had to beat that 2'11.6 to win. Now it was my turn.
Lap 1: I go off
Lap 2: I go off
Lap 3: I do a 58.3 first sector, 0.2 faster then what the fastest guy at that point did. I get to the hairpin, run a little bit wide, but nothing to worry about. I come to spoon, goes very smooth, things are looking good. Then I come to 130R, go in too fast an go off :banghead::banghead:. Ok, only 2 laps to go, still last, nerves starting to come. So as I line myself up to get a fast exit out of the last corner I don't turn enough coming onto the straight and get onto the grass at the outside, loose speed at the straight, ruining lap 4.
So lap 4: ruined.
Lap 5: Just one more lap now, feet are shaking, nerves are killing me. I take things easy to be sure I don't go off, but try not to loose too much time. T1, 58.5, not my best, but still ok. The hairpin, not going wide this time, feet really shaking alot now. Spoon, very smooth, only 130R and the chicane now. Seeing my T2, I'm thinking 'damn, too slow, I'm not gonna make it and 130R coming up where I've ruined 3 of my last already', but I've got nothing to loose, so I don't brake that much. As I come out, it seems like I'm gonna go wide but I just manage to keep it from going onto the grass. As I come out of 130R at speed yet I don't know my braking point for the chicane, so I just guess it and see where it takes me. Turns out it was a little to early, and I'm thinking 'damn, lost too much time, it's over'. As I come onto the straight I keep right to take the shortest line to the line. My time: 2'11.693.

I'm thinking DAMN DAMN DAMN :banghead:

As I get out of the pod after shaking my head, the guy with the mic comes to me and says 'congratulations'. I'm thinking 'what' and ask 'didn't the other guy do 2'11.625?' He says 'no, 2'11.699, but he did do an other lap that was 2'12.625'

So I won :D, OK, only by 0.006 sec, but still I won :D

Silverstone here I come 👍
 
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Congratz Stijn.
Failing my driving test feels a bit better now :lol:

edit: Did you get to see some of the rally?
 
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Stijn! You did it...congrats my friend! :cheers: Best of luck in Silverstone...I'll be rooting for you mate! 👍 ;)
 
Congratulations Stijn.
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For Silverstone, Belgians at the top:
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Congratulations Stijn.. what a feeling no!? in a second you thought you lost it but you won.. i would love to see your face when you found it :D

btw... who made 2nd by +0.006? :scared:
 
Congratulations once again to all GTPers on the finals:tup:

I'll be cheering for you guys in the academy.

Now that the national finals are over, to sum up, here are the winners with their total times (and respective national places) based on Zabeu's website:

AUS - Earthquaker - 3'25'288 - 18th

NZ - Tizzlaa - 3'24'888 - 7th
IRL - Darkenergyforce - 3'24'888 - 7th
POR - Hunter_4_6 - 3'24'787 - 11th
SUI - GTNDC_Czimo - 3'24'752 - 16th

BEL - GTP_RacerLP - 3'23'931 - 3rd
ITA - Gioboy 3'23'879 - 16th
ITA - Giagua - 3'23'773 - 13rd
UK - GTP_Ingram - 3'23'704 - 14th
GER - GTRP_Gantenbein - 3'23'625 - 10th
FRA - GTdriverBMW - 3'23'579 - 18th
ESP - Maakayx - 3'23'527 - 19th
UK - GTP_Prudentbear - 3'23'469 - 4th
SCA - Ocer_FI - 3'23'314 - 3rd
GER - Zocker16_GTRP - 3'23'302 - 3rd
HOL - IRTSolarsystem - 3'23'236 - 1st
AUS - GTP_DHolland - 3'23'092 - 1st

ESP - GTro_Rootbe - 3'22'962 - 1st
FRA - Ti-Tech85 - 3'22'466 - 1st


Only four first place guys went in, good thing for everybody that was placed in the middle of the pack and wants another chance next year. Nerves, luck and organisation can change everyting:crazy:

Let's hope that now sony reveals a bit more info, since the events are over as well as the japanese time trial challenge.
 
Thanks alot guys, I'm really happy I made it to silverstone :D. Will be great meeting some of you in real life 👍.

Congratulations Stijn.. what a feeling no!? in a second you thought you lost it but you won.. i would love to see your face when you found it :D

btw... who made 2nd by +0.006? :scared:

I think it was gtclub_poplinho.
 
Congratulations again,Stijn!!

So I won , OK, only by 0.006 sec, but still So I won
'It doesn't matter if you win by an inch or a mile.Winning's winning!':sly:

👍👍👍👍

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My race was already over after the first round btw, I finished 11th out of 20th:sly:
 
My view on that spanish final is that it was great, much more interesting and exciting than the others to watch. In real life, racing is a business and those spanish racers would sell more spectator tickets than clean conservative racers. I think Its more likely they would be successful racing drivers. Will be interested to see how the finalists do at silverstone.

You think drivers with little to no appreciation for maintaining their machinery or their own health and that of their competitors will make succesful racing drivers? You think good business equals wrecked cars?

Also calling other finals conservative because there were fewer crashes and diabolical driving is incredibly unfair and simply untrue. The drivers in the UK final were blisteringly quick. PrudentBear, Ingram, Davissi and Hyperspeed put on a scintillating show. Tony Jardine, Lucas Ordonez, Alex Buncombe and absolutely all the media and spectators in the room were completely gripped by the whole affair. Just because these guys don't hit each other at speed it doesn't make them conservative, it makes them skilled and talented. Ultimately that is what people pay to watch and go and see. I don't believe GT Academy were looking for a destruction derby prodigy.

All the best
Maz
 
You think drivers with little to no appreciation for maintaining their machinery or their own health and that of their competitors will make succesful racing drivers? You think good business equals wrecked cars?

Also calling other finals conservative because there were fewer crashes and diabolical driving is incredibly unfair and simply untrue. The drivers in the UK final were blisteringly quick. PrudentBear, Ingram, Davissi and Hyperspeed put on a scintillating show. Tony Jardine, Lucas Ordonez, Alex Buncombe and absolutely all the media and spectators in the room were completely gripped by the whole affair. Just because these guys don't hit each other at speed it doesn't make them conservative, it makes them skilled and talented. Ultimately that is what people pay to watch and go and see. I don't believe GT Academy were looking for a destruction derby prodigy.

All the best
Maz

My thoughts exactly! 👍
 
Obviously you need to look after the car and be aggressive. But when it's so important to take the advantage the risk becomes worth it. And this is what professional racing drivers are paid to do. Especially when overtaking is very difficult. I have seen many times in F1 racing when drivers have spent a long time chasing a car but cant get past, what they need to do is keep trying more risky moves until you either crash into the car infront or it crashes trying to get of your way. This is essential in order to win, it varies due to circumstance, An obvious example would be Monaco, lap after lap following nearly near the last lap the chase car might aswell ram the car ahead off the track. There is no room for nice guy drivers in motorsport.
 
Final is over. And yeah, it was just like The Netherlands: GT5P, only time trails :yuck:. Each of us had 5 laps in each round, only the best laps counts, there was a different circuit for each round. There were 4 GT5P pods. Ow yeah, the car was the GT-R :dunce:.

< cut cut cut >

So I won :D, OK, only by 0.006 sec, but still So I won :D

Silverstone here I come 👍

Not the GT-R Proto 05 then ?! What an exiting change.

Congrats on your victory!! All the best at Silverstone!
 
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