My Racing and 2014 International Race Camp experience

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Australia
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joshmuggo
joshmuggo
Hey guys,

Thought I would jump on here and give an insight into my experience at GT Academy International Race Camp. What an amazing experience it was! Rob Barff said to us at the start of the week "Money can't buy this s$&! you get to do!" And he was right. Something I will never forget.

Day 0:

First we had a meeting to be introduced to all of the Judges, Team Leaders and instructors who would be our 'family' for the next week. We were immediately fitted for our racing kit which we would receive later that day. After this we went a completed a medical assessment, this was a preliminary test for the MSA that we were all fit enough to obtain our racing licence should we need it later in the week for the final.

Then we were put through an initial fitness assessment in the NISMO lab where we had our first go on the BATAK machine and our bodies were scanned and results were produced which told us things from our weight, our hydration, our muscle mass to more in depth things like our visceral fat and body composition. Then we were taken outside to do some physical fitness tests.

Team Australia finished the day with a night track walk of the old Silverstone Circuit and the GP Main straight, until we were asked politely to get off the GP track from security!


Day 1:

We were up at 5am to head to the Silverstone Rally course for our first Challenge, Mud Mayhem. We knew this was coming as we had seen it the previous day in our travels. It was a team event and the time stopped when all members of your team were across the line.

When the flash bang went off, we went full tilt into the course to try and get an early lead. I figured out that a few of the obstacles you would need to line up for and slow down, so if we got to the front early, we could get through them quickly and build a lead. We managed to do this and never looked back. We were the strongest team there physically and we cruised through the course and finished with a big lead.

I knew from the start that no matter what happened, they would make us go again. And sure enough, that wasn't good enough so off we went again. Everything played out the same as the last run, we got to the lead early and pulled away. Our second run was only 20 seconds slower than our first run which impressed all the judges and GTA staff.
The Course consisted off; 6ft high wall, barbed wire trench crawl, big ball shuttle run, run through fire, rope pull through deep water, electric shock crawl (THAT SUCKED!!), mud run to a water crawl under a net, steep hill climb to a slippery slide, another mud run through deep mud and water, net climb into an ice bath and then a greasy rope wall.

After lunch we got into some driving which started with Advanced Car Control in a Caterham doing some motorkhana. Then we received some driver training in NISMO 370Z's and Nissan GTR's on the Stowe Circuit.

That night we were all taken down to London where we filmed the intro for the TV show. This was on a boat on the Thames which was awesome. London Eye, Big Ben, Tower Bridge and many others sights.

We got back to the snoozebox at 1:30am. Massive day!
 
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Day 2:

This was Hurricane Bertha day! Heavy rain in the morning meant that our Traffic Challenge was postponed. Instead we took the first step to gaining our racing licence by doing the Video Lecture. Once this was complete the weather had cleared enough to film the intro for the challenge, but then it came back and we resigned to lunch.

At lunch, a lot of us took the time to catch up on some well needed sleep after the previous day, as the worst of Hurricane Bertha passed over us. Was an awesome sight to see with some savage winds and rain, as well as a lightning show.

After this the rain passed and the weather cleared up enough for our challenge. We would start at the back of the grid and need to pass as many cars as we could in 3 laps. The cars we had to pas were; 2015 Nissan Pulsar, Caterham 7, 2 Ferrari 360 Modena's, Lotus Evora, 2 370Z NISMO's and the last was the Nissan GTR NISMO.

I was the leader in our group and was overlapped with Jann in the 370Z in 2nd as I crossed the line.

After this we were taken in for Eliminations.

Rick Kelly and Rob Barff were stood in front of us, and based off the Traffic Challenge, our first Elimination was Luca Giacomin. He left and the rest of us were really happy and relieved. Rick asked us how we felt and we told him, then he said "well I don't know what you're smiling for because someone else has to go". Our hearts dropped as this was a complete shock, we weren't expecting this.

The Judges asked each of us who we thought should be eliminated, we all dodged the question and said that it wasn't up to us and we were happy that we didn't have to make that decision. But then the judges deliberated and told us that our answers weren't good enough and that we had to nominate somebody.

The tally ended up with me having the most votes to be eliminated as the other guys said that I was the most determined of us and was their biggest threat. I knew that the judges were looking for the best racing driver, but at the same time it is a TV show, so it could be me going home. Luckily I was right but unfortunately that meant Peter Read had to go home.

That night we had the Laser Challenge in the wing of the Silverstone GP pits. Each region had to pick one person who was to hold a steering wheel in front of them without breaking the laser beam. We chose Marcello because he had the best muscle endurance of us. We chose right because Marcello took the win for Team Australia which gave us 2 wins from 2 team challenges.

Team Thailand lost and had to sleep in a tent, in the middle of Stowe Circuit.
 
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Day 3:

In the morning we were taken to GT Academy's Gymkhana course in 370Z NISMO's. This was an elimination challenge which meant whoever came last, went home. The judges would work out our pairings, there would be 2 races, whoever won was safe, the losing 2 met in the elimination race and the loser was out.

We got 2 practice runs, 1 in each lane. The left lane was a left-hand drive car, the right lane was a right-hand drive car. There was a coin toss before each race to choose lanes. I was up against Marcello and he picked the left lane, which was good for me because I wanted the right hand lane. Not just for the car, but I noticed a few discrepancies in the course which favoured the right lane.

I won my heat and was safe from elimination.

In the other heat, Ben and Dylan were against each other and Ben came out on top.

So that left Dylan and Marcello in the elimination final. This was an awesome race, both made mistakes and came to the final slalom dead even. Dylan slightly overshot one of the barrels and that was enough for Marcello to clinch it. Dylan was out unfortunately, and while I don't agree with this challenge as an elimination, it is part of the competition and we were now down to 3.

Then came my favourite challenge, Stock Car Racing. How much fun was this!
So each team had 3 drivers remaining. The race would be a 20min race with 2 driver changes. there was no minimum or maximum time that drivers had to be in a car. We had 2 cars, 1 was our race car and the other was our practice/qualifying car and spare car. Our spare car was quite slow and we only qualified in 4th for the race. But our race car was much faster.
I was to start the race and was on the outside of row 2. I got a good start and immediately was pressing for position, at turn 3 of the first lap i saw an incident coming on the inside so I hung wide and waited for my gap, getting through and into 2nd. Mexico was in the lead and I was hunting them down from 2 seconds behind. I closed the gap and made the pass for 1st. I had only 2 clear laps before the yellow was called and Rick called on the radio to bring me in to do a driver swap under yellow.

The rest of the race was really easy for us. We had a big lead and clear track while the other 4 regions were all close together and battling hard with plenty of contact. We ended up winning by 2 or 3 laps in the end. the 3 of us jumped on the roof of our Nissan Micra and celebrated NASCAR style!
 
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Day 4:

In the morning we got to test the single seater race cars around Stowe Circuit. These were awesome fun! It was a great feeling to drive a proper, raw racing car with no aids or assists. Team Australia held 3 of the top 4 places and were right on the pace.

We were then put into a bus and taken into the country. We were in the middle of nowhere and didn't have an idea what we were doing. We soon found out this was a distraction challenge called 'Tanks a lot'. The idea was the drive a rally prepared Nissan Juke on a dirt course, and to deal with whatever distractions were presented to us.

There were tanks, motorbikes, army buggies, paintball guns and blocked paths in our way.

The 3 of us were all within 1 second of each other. The winners got to crush a wrecked car with a tank which was really cool.

After this it was back to the Snoozebox and Stowe circuit to complete our written and practical exams for our MSA Racing licence.

After this we were back to the snoozebox to await an elimination. We were told to wait in our rooms and Rick and Rob would come around and deliver our fates. I was listening for door knocks and I heard mine first, I had a suspicion that the person to be eliminated would be last to be knocked on.

I was first and I was safe. Down to the final 2 and ready for the next 2 days.
 
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Day 5:

The Day started with Marcello and I being taken in a bus again into the country, and it turns out into the buggy challenge.

I remembered this from the European Race Camp and knew that this was the most important challenge we have had thus far. I knew the winner of this was going to get pole for the final, so we needed a good result here, even though only one of us would receive the benefits of our teamwork.

We had 5 laps practice each and Marcello and I were on the pace. The only issue we had was once when Marcello went over a jump, our buggy stalled and stopped. I had one scare over a jump where I felt like I was almost going to flip, so after that I wound the pace back a bit as it was going to undo our race.

The race was 10 laps, with a driver change at half way. We qualified on pole and i was to start the race. I picked the inside and when the green went, my buggy was slow to accelerate. I came out of turn 1 in 2nd and right on the tail of India in the lead. I made my move straight away and took the lead on the first lap.
From there I set about building a lead and giving Marcello a gap for the changeover. I came into the pits with a 15 second lead and knew we had it in the bag. I handed the buggy over to Marcello, and told him how slippery it was because it had been raining and the wet grass was like ice.

I got a drink after my stint and watched Marcello come out of the trees on his first lap with a big lead, but he was being caught. The 2nd lap, he didn't emerge from the trees. I thought our buggy had stalled again and it was stopped. I soon found out that he had rolled the buggy on the jump. I wasn't happy. We had a massive lead and he didn't need to be pushing so hard. All he had to do was keep it on track and bring it home.

We finished in last and were starting from P5 for the final race. Not good.


Back at Silverstone and the final elimination challenge awaited us. It was to be a 3 lap time trial around Stowe circuit in the Nissan 370Z NISMO race cars which we would use for the final race. Best lap counts and the slowest driver is eliminated.

There was a coin toss to see who would go first and I won. I decided to go first and put the pressure on Marcello, we weren't allowed to watch each other and were locked in a garage, so I knew if I got out of the car after my run and acted really pumped and happy with how I went, that would put some more pressure on him and hopefully he would make some mistakes.

My run started off well and I used the warm up lap to get used to the car and find some braking markers. My first lap was going well until the front straight where I missed the 2nd to 3rd gear change. This ruined my run up the straight and also my 2nd lap. I regathered myself for the last lap and put it all on the table, I pushed as hard as I could and was really happy with the lap I put together. Christian Vann my instructor was really pleased with my run and that gave me some confidence.

I knew I was in with a good shot, and knowing that Marcello can't heel and toe, also gave me some confidence as I waited in the garage.

After his run, Rick and Rob announced that I was going through and was the last Australian standing. I was so relieved and emotional. All the hard work and sacrifice had paid off and I was through to the final race. As it turned out, Marcello made a mistake on his last lap and ran off the track, but my first lap was enough to beat him. I ended up fastest by almost 7 tenths of a second.

I had done it, I was the Australian GT Academy winner and now I had to figure out a way of getting from the back of the grid to winning the final race.
 
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Day 6:

Race Day!

This was it, this was the day. I woke up early and had a nice relaxing breakfast by myself. We were taken across to the National Circuit pits and met with the instructors and the Clerk of the Course. We received our new gear (Helmet, HANS device, Balaclava and gloves) as our previous gear was not up to regulation for a National meeting which this was run as.

The Clerk of the Course discussed everything we needed to know from start procedures, warm up etc. We then hopped into our mini buses and did a couple of laps of the track to get lines and insight from the lead instructors. Funnily enough they disagreed on a couple of lines for corners which was interesting.

We were then told that everything we did today was in our own car for the race, so look after it as we saw fit. I discussed with my Team Leader about saving tyres and brakes etc for the race as I was going to need every advantage I could get.

After that we were to have 15 laps practice (3 flying laps with each instructor) to work on lines and ask any last questions we had. Picked up some really great info here by asking some questions that the other guys didn't.

We then filmed some TV stuff for the intro and some photos and then it was into qualifying. It is an MSA requirement that in order to race, you must complete 3 timed laps. I knew that this 'qualifying' was not going to affect my position so I saved the car and tyres and didn't push too hard. I was the quickest from the morning training so I knew I had pace and still had more in it so was confident going into the final race.

After lunch it was time to get ready for the race. I wanted to get in my car nice and early so I could have some time to myself to focus on my game plan. I knew I needed to get a good start and had spoken to the instructors on how to best get the car off the line. When the green flag went for the warm up lap, I waited for a moment and then did a practice start to see how it went. It felt good but needed more warmth in the rear tyres. I worked on tyre and brake heat in the warm up lap and stayed off the clutch so as not to overheat it.

On the grid ready to go, the lights came on, and then they went out. Instantly my start felt awesome and I was immediately working out a way past India and Thailand. I was into 3rd by the first corner and looking ahead to the middle east and Mexico right in front of me.

Down the back straight India got a run on me and had the inside line into the final complex, I stayed on the outside for the left hander which gave me the inside for the final right hand corner onto the straight.

The next few laps were a blur as Mexico got past the Middle East and the next lap, I did the same. He ran wide at the second last corner and I knew he couldn't hold the racing line when he came back on the track, I set myself up for a switchback and threw my car down the inside at the last corner. I was now in 2nd and about 2 seconds behind Riccardo in 1st.

The next few laps I set the 3 fastest laps of the race chasing him down. With one lap to go I was 0.4 seconds behind crossing the line. I knew I would maybe get 1 opportunity and I had to take it. I made sure I got a good run onto the back straight to stay close coming into the final complex. I hung tight with Riccardo on the left hander as he sacrificed the exit of the left hander to open up the last right hander onto the straight. As he opened up the gap on the apex, I put my car in there and hugged the rumble strip on the inside. I didn't dive bomb or overshoot the corner at all, I stayed on the inside and had the overlap at mid corner, as Riccardo was coming back, he didn't see me and came straight across my nose. We made contact and he got sideways, I had to lift because when he straightened we would have made more contact which could have put me or us both off the track and out. So I lifted and let him regain control, and set about my next move. But that was it, as we crossed the line I saw the chequered flag and the race was over.

I was proud with what I had accomplished and how I approached the race. I passed the most cars of anyone, came from the back of the pack to finish 2nd by 0.6 secs, and set the 3 fastest laps of the race. I knew I had a chance of winning the overall prize, but also knew it would be extremely hard for the judges to overturn a race win.

All of the Judges and Instructors approached me after the race and said how well I did and I couldn't have done any more in that race. They also said that at the last corner, they would have done the exact same thing. So all of that was comforting to know and gave me some confidence moving forward, even if I wasn't to win the competition.

The rest as they say is history. The judges were deadlocked 50/50. The instructors were deadlocked 50/50 and it came back to Rob Barff to make the decision. He went with Riccardo and that was that.

I walked away with my head held high and proud of my achievements. I have no regrets from my whole experience which is exactly how I wanted to leave.
 
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After GT Academy

The next morning I woke up to a few Facebook messages with people offering me drives back home in various cars. That was really awesome. To be noticed immediately for me efforts was fantastic and gave me some hope of my dream not being over.

I have since met with various Nissan Australia execs including the CEO and the Motorsport Manager and things are looking positive for the future. Darren Cox has contacted Nissan Australia's CEO about me already and there are lots of things in the works in the background.

On the other side I have organised and received my CAMS racing licence, have 4 races already booked in, which will see me upgrade my licence to a National Circuit licence and have a few more opportunities I am working on.

I have organised a test in a Lamborghini GT3 car in November also which will be great for my experience.

So all in all, things are looking pretty positive at the moment. There will be lots of things to come and more things I can announce shortly.

For more updates and news, please head over to Facebook and like and share my page:

https://www.facebook.com/josh.muggleton

If you have any questions I would be more than happy to answer them. Including what training I did, and my experience at Silverstone.

Josh.
 
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a wonderful read so far mate! it was great to meet you in person, i strongly think you deserve to advance into a racing career at the soonest. waiting anxiously for the After GT academy section to learn more about you.
 
our bodies were scanned and results were produced which told us things from our weight, our hydration, our muscle mass to more in depth things like our visceral fat and body composition.
Great stuff. I'd like to do that myself.

I wonder, though, if the NISMO lab's scanning machine would break down if they scanned JPM.
 
Thanks for the summary of the experience mate. Looking forward to see how you get on with the racing over the rest of the year. Re: quoted text below.
I have since met with various Nissan Australia execs including the CEO and the Motorsport Manager and things are looking positive for the future. Darren Cox has contacted Nissan Australia's CEO about me already and there are lots of things in the works in the background.

Did the inclusion of New Zealand ever get brought up in any of your meetings with Nissan execs (couldn't help it; had to ask :D)?
 
Hey Josh, thank you very much for sharing, it is a very interesting read.

I'll take your word on questions so I have a few for you

1. What are some practices you do to keep focus?
2. What mindset did you have through the entire competition, I mean through national finals and the international competition?
3. I'm curious about how did you and team Australia manage the interaction with the other countries, did you interact in a friendly way or was it always a competitive interaction and playing in the mind of the others, to gain little advantage?
4. For you, what is the most important thing as a good racing driver?

Thanks for your time, I hope to see you racing soon, maybe V8 supercars! :D
 
Did the inclusion of New Zealand ever get brought up in any of your meetings with Nissan execs (couldn't help it; had to ask :D)?

No mate it didn't unfortunately. Although it was mentioned about budget and Nissan Aus and Playstation AU putting up the money for us to be able to enter. So I'd say that is the reason that NZ hasn't been included yet, it's down to Nissan NZ and Playstation NZ to whether or not they deem it viable.

I'll take your word on questions so I have a few for you

1. What are some practices you do to keep focus?
2. What mindset did you have through the entire competition, I mean through national finals and the international competition?
3. I'm curious about how did you and team Australia manage the interaction with the other countries, did you interact in a friendly way or was it always a competitive interaction and playing in the mind of the others, to gain little advantage?
4. For you, what is the most important thing as a good racing driver?

Thanks for your time, I hope to see you racing soon, maybe V8 supercars! :D

1. On the game, or in real life? Game wise - play with as many distractions as possible. Play music, have your dog playing next to you/on top of you, just play out of your comfort zone.
In real life, have time to yourself before you do anything. Think about your game plan and how you see it playing out in your head. Drive the track in your head and play out different scenarios and how you might overcome them.

2. You have to be selfish. Yes you are there with other people and make friends with them, but it is an individual competition. When we were back at the snoozebox or having lunch or something, we were all friends and talking, but once at an activity, separate yourself and concentrate. Don't get distracted and keep your mind on the job. Refer to answer 1.

3. It was great. All the other teams were really friendly and we all got on really well. There weren't any separate tables at dinner/lunch etc. We all interacted and met some awesome people. In the end, you aren't competing against the other regions until the final day, and only 1 of you does that. So there is no point segregating yourselves from the others as it doesn't affect you. I used to talk to the other teams and find out what they were doing, how they found the challenges and try and get some insight into what to expect if they did the challenges before we did.

4. Fitness and determination. Fitness is a given. If you are fit, everything in a race car becomes easier. You think more clearly, you react quicker and you are more consistent. Determination is what you need to keep driving you forward and chase your dream. If you aren't determined you wont go and train hard to get fit, you won't make the sacrifices required to become a racing driver, you won't look at your performance in a critical way and find out where to improve.

The more determined you are, the more chance you will have of reaching your goal.
 
If anyone wants to know Muggo's secret to doing well at GT Academy
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a wonderful read!, congrats Josh, really inspiring stuff! i have a feeling we will be seeing a little more of you in the future! keep it up mate!
 
The TV show was a stupid idea IMO. Why do we have to be so out of touch with what happened for months just so some TV channel can make a quick buck? So frustraiting.
 
Hey guys,

Had my first race weekend last week and although we had our troubles, I learnt a lot and got some great experience from it. More importantly, I was on the pace quickly and ended up faster than the owner of the car who has been to the track before and raced the car for 3 years. Here is my weekend wrap:

Teamed up with Callum Whatmore in is Nissan 180SX (SilEighty).

All weekend we had troubles with the car. Started with some bad Brake shudder that we were chasing and saw us revert back to the old brake setup and problem was solved. The biggest problem we encountered was the car spat a gearbox on me during my qualifying session on the Saturday so we had to travel the 2 hours back to Brisbane to Option 1 Garage to get a new one. We ended up not having a 5th gear so we put in a taller diff to get around the issue.

I had 2 sessions in the car before the race. One was the qualfying session which was when the car broke a gearbox. My best time was a 1:24.2 which was just under 2 seconds off Cal's best time. Then during the warm up on Sunday I posted a 1:22.8 which was 1 tenth quicker than his Warm up time on the Sunday.

Race time and due to being worried about braking the diff, I had a conservative start and lost a spot off the start and dropped to 10th. However during the stint I handed the car off to Cal in 6th place. After the pistop Cal came out in P10 and started marching his way forward. However we were struck by another problem and were black flagged due to blowing smoke. We discovered the car had popped a oil breather hose off the engine so we got back out and were classified a finisher in P18, 8 laps down.

All in all it was a great experience which I learnt a lot from. Left feeling really happy with my pace after being able to match Cal's times after a dozen laps at a track I've never been to before, and a car I've never driven before.


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Also yesterday I got the chance to drive a Lamborghini Gallardo GT3 FLII and a current Porsche 991 Cup Car at Queensland Raceway for an unofficial test. Unbelievable experience and such awesome cars to drive.
After a 4 lap session in the Lamborghini I was just over 1 second slower than the cars owner who had done a 10 lap session and plenty of experience in the car and at the track.

In between I got the lucky chance to drive a current spec Porsche 991 Cup car. This was the fulfilment of a childhood dream for me being a massive Porsche fan. Again I got 4 flying laps and was on the pace quickly and catching one of the Australian Carrera Cup regulars doing passenger laps. Words can't describe what an awesome car these are, seating position is so comfortable, no driver aids to get in between you and the car, and so much mechanical grip rather than aero also. Something I'll never forget and something I hope I'll have the chance to do again in the future.

Finally I got one more session in the Lamborghini right in the middle of the day. The temp was 30oC+ and the regular driver and co-driver had just done 10 hotlap stints each right before me. So the car was hot, the tyres were spent (1 year old) and the track was hot. I drove much better this time braking much later and carrying more corner speed after getting used to the aero.

For more information including pics and video, go and like my facebook page and check them out.

www.facebook.com/josh.muggleton


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Wow , That is amazing !! Reading your story about Gt Academy was very exciting. I can't wait for the TV show and especially for the final race. From 5th to 2nd with a gap on less then .5 of a second !! it is just ...WOW.
Do you still competing PlayStation? If so it would be great to race with you.
Also your after GT Academy like the post yesterday are too , great.
Keep it up , it is great to read and see all o your rain stuff here.
 
Hi Everyone,

On the weekend I raced in our State Championships in Production cars. I was racing in the B2 Class (Performance RWD) in this beast

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We ended up P3 in our class for the weekend and were beaten by 2 identical cars which are 10 years newer and more advanced, 6.0L engines (more power and more torque) vs our 5.7L and wider rear rubber (275mm vs 245mm). Saying that, I was keeping pace with the A2 cars (High Performance RWD) and beating many of them also. We were scrutineered 4 times over the weekend because they thought we were cheating! haha.

Anyway, was a great weekend and hopefully more to come from it in the future. Check out the onboard footage from all 3 races. (Race 2 I had a little spin and broke off the exhaust which caused a DNF) so for the last race we started from rear of grid. In the last race we were 1 sec a lap faster than the next 4 cars in front so without the safety car, we could have been well into the top 10 and first in class.

Race 1 - Started 9th, finished 11th. First time starting the car at all, let alone in the wet.



Race 2 - Started 11th, DNF. Getting held up by 2nd in class and pushed too hard, woops!



Race 3 - Started 24th, finished 12th. Safety car killed us as we would have been in the top 10.

 
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