GT Academy - Silverstone Boot Camp - General Discussion Thread

  • Thread starter Sphinx
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Hi all, I got back from Silverstone and was straight into work yesterday afternoon but all I wanted to do was sleep after the excellent (if slightly surreal) wrap up party. I'm still struggling to believe all the stuff we did, witnessed and learned, not to mention the people we met during the week. It was simply a once in a lifetime experience that I feel lucky to have been a part of. I haven't even unpacked yet but I'll sort through some photos tonight and post more detail of the experience in the coming days.

Rutter200_VR46
Anyone know when this will be?
Click to expand...

I was told that they were aiming to have the series ready by September.
 
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PrudentBear
Hi all, I got back from Silverstone and was straight into work yesterday afternoon but all I wanted to do was sleep after the excellent (if slightly surreal) wrap up party. I'm still struggling to believe all the stuff we did, witnessed and learned, not to mention the people we met during the week. It was simply a once in a lifetime experience that I feel lucky to have been a part of. I haven't even unpacked yet but I'll sort through some photos tonight and post more detail of the experience in the coming days.
Click to expand...

Welcome back 👍

You guys did brilliantly, and I think we're all pretty envious of what you got to drive and who you got to meet! I'm guessing the presence of people like Herbert, Sabine etc was what made the wrap-up party surreal?
 
Hi all,

I came back from SIlverstone late last night and had to work today so I'm bit tired. Anyway GT Academy was one of the best experiences in my life. It was so much fun driving great cars on Silverstone.
Unfortunately I just wasn't fast enough and was eliminated after day two but it was still great. All the people, organizer, instructors and other competitors, were so nice that it was a pleasure being part of that group 👍

The wrap party was crazy:
party.jpg


(no, thats not from actual party, it was the picture behind the invitation card)

- Marko
 
Ocer_FI
Hi all,

I came back from SIlverstone late last night and had to work today so I'm bit tired. Anyway GT Academy was one of the best experiences in my life. It was so much fun driving great cars on Silverstone.
Unfortunately I just wasn't fast enough and was eliminated after day two but it was still great. All the people, organizer, instructors and other competitors, were so nice that it was a pleasure being part of that group 👍

The wrap party was crazy:
party.jpg


(no, thats not from actual party, it was the picture behind the invitation card)

- Marko
Click to expand...

I hope our little preppin for the party helped :D 👍

Glad to hear you had such a great time, although it might be obvious :D :cheers: Glad it was a Finn to get there ;) 👍
 
I've seen some of the pictures on my brother's facebook. What was everyone wearing? Sabine looked like a chequered flag...
 
Ocer_FI
Hi all,

I came back from SIlverstone late last night and had to work today so I'm bit tired. Anyway GT Academy was one of the best experiences in my life. It was so much fun driving great cars on Silverstone.
Unfortunately I just wasn't fast enough and was eliminated after day two but it was still great. All the people, organizer, instructors and other competitors, were so nice that it was a pleasure being part of that group 👍

- Marko
Click to expand...

Very happy to hear that 👍

And if these races continue, we might have to do more of those prep-parties... :dunce: :lol:
 
PrudentBear
Hi all, I got back from Silverstone and was straight into work yesterday afternoon but all I wanted to do was sleep after the excellent (if slightly surreal) wrap up party. I'm still struggling to believe all the stuff we did, witnessed and learned, not to mention the people we met during the week. It was simply a once in a lifetime experience that I feel lucky to have been a part of. I haven't even unpacked yet but I'll sort through some photos tonight and post more detail of the experience in the coming days.



I was told that they were aiming to have the series ready by September.
Click to expand...

Hey John;) What do they hope to have ready by September?
 
Hey guys

Wow what an amazing experience the academy has been! Just the trip to europe would have been enough :D

It would take forever to write up all the things i did but i'll compose a list of highlights (in no particular order)

-Getting lost in london
-meeting everyone, what a great bunch of guys ! :)
-almost sticking a 370z into a wall on the first day :lol:
-driving a GTR, the acceleration is absolutely ridiculous. it takes your breath away, literally.
-Meeting all the famous people - Johnny herbert, Eddie Jordan, Lucas Ordonez, Colin mcrae's tutor etc etc all very nice people
-Staying in that massive hotel. i got lost a few times :lol:
-Getting drunk at the after party and beating Jhonny herbert and Lucas at table tennis :D

I'm so greatful for this opportunity to get a first hand look at what the sport is like at a top level.

Also i want to thank everybody involved with GTPlanet, this website is what got me into gt5 prologue in the first place and ultimately led to me winning my national final.

Massive congrats to Jordan Tresson and Luca Lorenzini, both were very very talented guys and great attitudes to match.

This competition has added alot more fuel into my veins, im selling my cars and going to build a track/drift car :D

How was your flight home Mr Holland? i was ablsolutely shattered last night. 10 hours waiting at heathrow then flight to dubai, flight to Sydney, Flight to Auckland and then finally back to Wellington where everything seemed so small........

Ps you owe me a few beers at the next academy :lol:
 
Lol, yep thanks for shouting me all that food and beer at the airport! My flight home was better than expected, fell asleep listening to Crowded House greatest hits;)

Cheers mate
 
Ummm 6.5 hours plus 1 hour waiting, then 13.5 hours plus 1 hour waiting, then 2.5 hours plus 3 hour wait then 1 hour. So almost 30 hours all up
 
It took me nearly 3 hours and 15 minutes to get home!

:D

Good to meet you, TiZzla. For some reason you crept into just about every photograph I took...
 
Famine
It took me nearly 3 hours and 15 minutes to get home!

:D

Good to meet you, TiZzla. For some reason you crept into just about every photograph I took...
Click to expand...

You too mate :) it was very suprising to have a GTPlanet representitive there!

As for the photos, you must have been stalking me :lol:
 


Check this out guys - This dude taught Colin Mcrae how to drive back in the day!!!
 
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Sphinx
Fixed.
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Thanks you sir :)

Im just uploading some photos to Flickr.com - Theres some great shots from the gt5 demo. Which is fantastic btw. The most notable improvements are the way the cars react to the track surfaces and curbs. The graphics look amazing and i cannot wait for GT5.

I actually got bored of the demo by the end of the academy. Not because it's boring but thats how much we were playing it :D plus the 3 minute time limit is rather annoying

here we are : http://www.flickr.com/photos/48124394@N06/

I have a great video of an interior view showing the driver changing the gears with a gated gearbox but the file is massive. I might put it on youtube later
 
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Welcome Home TiZzla! An amazing experience it was I'm sure. Congratulations again on making it to the Final, well deserved it was. Sorry to hear you didn't make it past the first cut, but when all is said and done, much you will have learnt, to have another go (if you can get through the local final!) next time round. Seems you were the youngest competitor too ? that goes in your favour for the future. I kept a close eye on all the reports over the last week, and your name was conspicious by its absence most of the time, obviously keeping a low profile!! :)
At the end of the day I was very happy not to have made it! The fitness regime sounded tortuous! I would have given it a good go (way back) when I was 19, but I would have been an embarrassment to myself had I been there today.
Sounds like you have got the bit between your teeth now... selling your cars? Good on ya 👍 Seems that previous kart/race experience was a big plus, despite what the rules were asking for, so may as well get some time behind the wheel of something that will help you next time round.
:cheers:

awesome --->
4409719466_aef6b39612.jpg
 
Thanks mate, yes i have learnt so much over the past 2 weeks and it has made me realise that whatever i choose to do for a living it will have to be in the automotive industry :D

Yep both of my cars are for sale now, im going to buy a track/drift car that i can use to develop my driving skills.

As for me keeping a low profile - my performance on day 1 was not good and the only way to get attention was to perform well. The hardest thing for me was to push the cars under brakes. We are driving round in brand new 370z in the rain in front of national tv the last thing you want to do is crash so i was being too conservative.

Both of my super pole laps had massive mistakes. Either getting fully sideways by jumping on the gas too early or getting the car out of shape by trail braking because i wasn't braking hard enough.

At the end of the day i'm completely happy with what happened. I think i actually would have died on the assault course.

Oh and just to add more fuel to the fire about us getting loads of freebies from the national final Sony also gave me a brand new psp slim and 100 pounds at the airport :D
 
TiZzla
Oh and just to add more fuel to the fire about us getting loads of freebies from the national final Sony also gave me a brand new psp slim and 100 pounds at the airport :D
Click to expand...

woo hoo !
Just awesome. What a great thrill, all this ...but wait theres more !!! And to think the whole event from start to finish was nothing but a giveaway!! Big ups to Sony and Nissan.

oh by the way, pick up a copy of NZ PC World (March 2010), there is a page article in the back on the NZ Academy. 👍

And regarding your 'poor' performance on day 1, pahhh. You were thrown in the deep end, and it would take an extreme amount of natural ability (or experience) to really stand out. Now you have some of that experience, and will only be the better for it. Be proud (which I am sure you are!). 👍
 

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