I think you missed my point, about getting a job in racing. I didn't mean treating the game like a job to get good. I meant competing in FIA events, in the hopes of becoming a real race driver. I'm 48 years old, so even if I was stupid fast at the game, I'm past the prime for real racing, on a pro level.
You're also doing too much assuming. I've run Sport mode, and while I'm not an alien, I can hold my own. I have a B/S rating, and only ran 20 races, winning 4 of those. So being slow, or not competitive is not the issue. I just don't enjoying racing a bunch of strangers, that treat me like I'm the AI in GT League. I do participate in casual lobbies, with mostly people I know, and have been online racing with since GT5P, but that's once a week at most.
I don't condemn online, Sport mode, or FIA events. People enjoy that, so more power to them, I hope PD keeps supporting it. Doesn't mean I have to participate. It also doesn't mean they should abandon offline, and neither should I have to.