Mercedes Live Race in Gran Turismo 5, Live Video Stream (Coulthard Wins!)

Jordan Greer · · 197 Comments

The live stream is no longer available. Photos and video highlights are available here.

The Mercedes-Benz Live Race is almost here, and GTPlanet is proud to be an official streaming video partner for the event! The live broadcast begins at 3:00PM in the UK and will be hosted by popular F1 television commentator Martin Brundle.

As you’ve probably heard by now, the premise of the Live Race is simple: former F1 driver David Coulthard is going head-to-head against a select group of Gran Turismo 5 gamers in the same car, on the Top Gear Test Track, at the same time.

I’m happy to report that many of the contest finalists are from GTPlanet – user “thefraggle” is live-blogging the entire event here in our forums, offering a unique perspective of the competition.

At stake for the fastest gamer is a 5-star trip to the 2011 Formula One Brazilian Grand Prix, and for David, his reputation! Meanwhile, Europeans will be able to take a shot at David’s live lap times in a special GT5 Seasonal Event.

Keep an eye on the video player above for the start of the broadcast, or visit DCLiveRace.co.uk for a back-up stream. Good luck to everyone!

UPDATE: The event went off without a hitch and was great fun to watch. David Coulthard set an early hot lap of 1:16.32, besting the fastest gamer Jason Birt by half a second! Here’s the final results:

David Coulthard: 1:16.32 
Jason Birt: 1:16.86 (+0.548)
Rob Woodhouse: 1:17.53 (+1.214)
Andy Sawley 1:17.88 (+1.564)
Jamie Lunn 1:18.73 (+2.411)
John Morshead 1:19.27 (+2.955)
Keith Brown 1:19.90 (+3.587)

Highlights from the day’s events will be available soon in cased you missed anything. Thanks to all of you who tuned in for the live stream, and congratulations to David and Jason!

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Comments (197)

  3. gosisapilgrim

    I’ve managed a 1’17.535 with the standard PS3 controller. Would love to try it with the proper kit if I had the money, time, and space to put it!!!

  4. G

    P.S. whats with them turning the racing line off these days, I’m sorry but I have other things going on like work, socialising and sex taking up my time that I obviously should be using to learn all the breaking points! Christ all mighty, its a game! as in supposed to be a bit of fun!

    1. daics69

      actually its supposed to be a driving simulator. you see many driving lines painted on circuits? oh, and most of us work, socialise and have sex but still have time to learn the simplest of circuits, like the top gear test track. poor exscuse friend

  5. G

    Tell you one thing, its not a great advertisement for Mercedes, I personally wouldnt be buying a SLS if understeers off the road at 35mph in the dry… I had a Vauxhall Cavalier that didnt go that! haha

  6. A_Higher_Place

    Highlights from the day’s events will be available soon in cased you missed anything. Thanks to all of you who tuned in for the live stream, and congratulations to David and Jason!

    -Jordan I founded a typo D:

  7. GTP_Vince_Fiero

    Coulthard Wins! => Yes for a selected group at the track.

    If you look at the TT he is at about 170th now, probably some of those would have beat him even in 15′.
    On top of that they selected the tires so that it would be close, there is no relationship between virtual and reality tires or track restrictions; in the event.

    Also the comments of David during the event, that you need to get used to the simulator controls, is true; there are surely differences between virtual and reality driving.

    Great marketing event and fun drive, but the virtual and reality dimension got lost in this event.

    1. SpeedTrap

      of curse there are differences, gforces mostly and not feeling the car in your but lol like happens with any sim, that absences need to be relearned by newcomers

  8. mobiletone

    Using Comfort Soft on this event is a joke, it handles much worse than the Special Events Nurburgring in the Rain SLS. Heck, when you buy an SLS it has Sports Hard fitted as standard which, with a tweaked Sports Sus’ i can lap in 1:14 on the Top Gear Track, with Comfort tyres i can only hit 1:20. It’s a Joke! like driving on ice.

    i have a Logitech DF Wireless wheel. 200* Rotation.

    plus the leaderboard leaders are cheating. check out the replays.

    2. BLADErunner

      I did a 1:17.8 using pad and I’m crap!

      And If you check the replays you’ll see lots of people much much faster and no cheating.

      I really don’t understand why your moaning, you all-ready bought the game its nearly a year old, its a free seasonal event, you don’t have to do it, your not missing out on any great prize by not achieving the time just a gold trophy.

      It’s meant to be fun!

    3. SHIRAKAWA Akira

      Actually Comfort Soft tires are correct. Sports tires are meant to be semi-slick tires. They even perform poorly on wet surfaces in GT5 (when the grip reduction setting is set to ‘Real’) compared to comfort soft ones.

    4. SpeedTrap

      what SHIRAKAWA Akira said

      you guys never played GT5 in a realistic way leaving the stock tyres by default, this competition and GT Academy tyre selection is the proof

    5. mobiletone

      Sorry for the moan. what with the comfort tyres and the invalid lap thing i was just narked off. i do use real settings and only have ABS on 1 when ‘driving’ usually.

      but seriously, my 2.0i Turbo Ford Mondeo X handles better that that SLS.

      i actually matched my SLS time with my tuned ’82 Audi Quattro in-game which amused me no end :)

  11. GTi_16v

    There is a very annoying bug as someone has mentioned if you screw up on any lap and its invalid EVERY lap after is invalid even if it is clean! Im only managing 1.20 due to this as my first few “warm up” laps are mediocre then i hit a cone and have to hit restart!!!!

    1. BlindZenDriver

      I think it was really a UK only considering who got to take on DC and that some of us can access the event afterwards is only so-so when it’s not for all.

      Most likely it’s about the sponsor and my guess would be Mercedes has something else planed for the US.

  13. Andy cowley

    THERE IS CHEATERS ALREADY!!

    watch GT-Racing-cz_MSM replay…. He completely misses out the first chicane!! And GTW_HILARIO does exactly the same!

    2. Fryto

      It’s the same story every time around. And on that same chicane I get an invalid time when just shaving one of the cones…

    3. DanRicciardo

      A friend of mine is currently number 1 (GTP_DHolland)and I asked him about why he cut it. His excuse was that DC cut the corners so he was allowed to do it. He full on cut chicago, I think the people cutting are a disgrace, and I also think the people using active steering or whatever should be put on a seperate leaderboard, it gains them so much time

  14. TJC_69

    I’ve done a 1.18.075 in the seasonal with the joypad , so gold will be achievable with the pad. I’m gonna come back l8r and try with the DFGT to compare what difference the wheel makes. Don’t think I can get in the 1.15’s with the pad but thats just me , i’m quicker with the wheel.

    What sort of times have you guys been getting and were you using DS3 or wheel……?

    :D

    1. Vortex

      I got a 1.17.244 with my g25. Took me a couple of tries, but i can’t get into a decent rithm because of a bug I have. Once i get a red lap every lap is red unless i restart… But that gets me cold tyres and kills the rythm…

    2. TJC_69

      Nice time ! Yeah I think thats the same for everyone , as if you cut or go wide it seems to invalidate your next lap without telling you…

      Congrats on gold :D

  15. SSRacingUK

    Yet again we have the usuall arguement of ” I keep crashing and can’t get anywhere near the gold time, so it’s the games fault, not mine, game must be crap, because I am the best driver in the world”

    Seriously, when your crap, sometimes you just need to admit that you are crap and get on with life.

  16. Smuttysy

    Anyone else notice that the last three placed finishers wouldn’t have even got the gold in the seasonal?!

    DC had an unfair advantage – no cones!

  17. Foxiol

    After this event i have to tell you people that this physics sucks. Even with this component in this car at 60, 70 or 80 km/h in a 60º curve you can never lost the car. I mean never. I drove a BMW in real life and got more than 200km/h and i really know what it is to drive at high speeds in a circuit. This is just surreal at all. I´m happy for those guys that in THE GAME can achieve 1.15 in this track because of course with a lot of practice you can make it. But still this is no close to reality at all. I´m a G27 user and drive a lot of sims like rFactor, GTR2, GTR Evo, Race07, LFS and many more even RBR. I know that driving is not easy at all but GT5 has to improve a lot their physics. I´m very mad because i came from the hospital (driving of course) and sat here to play this `race´ and i achieve not a bad lap but is quite annoying to drive that car. I can´t enjoy driving it.
    BTW G27 support in this game is a shame too. Try to plug the wheel on the PS3 and see how it works and then check on PC. Night and day.
    Congrats for the people who can run so close to David Coulthard in the Top Gear Test track.

    2. Foxiol

      “lose”…sorry i´m not English i´m trying to do my best. I was trying to say that when you take a turn with 60º at that speed the car is stable and in the game with a little touch of the gas tha car goes crazy. Probably G27 does not work very well with this game. Maybe physics are good but quite surrealistic to me.

    3. PR1VATEJ0KER

      The tires we are using in the seasonal event are much much worse than the actual tires that would be on a €170,000 luxury car.

    4. sdasdadsa

      @PR1VATEJ0KER

      Which means that with better tyres the car in game would be a lot faster than real car. So GT5 is not very realistic :S

    5. Foxiol

      I made 1:17.959. Still i can´t make a very good clean lap. I always fail in one part.My fault but still it is like driving on ice. Maybe those tires are made in china…lol

    6. daics69

      i just don’t get why we’re using the comfort tyres. the car’s unroadworthy the way it drives. atleast sports hard would have been preferred. also, anyone else notice that because DC didn’t have the witches hats he basically had a better run out of almost everycorner aswell as cutting straight through where the cones are placed for us…

    7. SpeedTrap

      LOL the SLS has no semislick sport tyres in real, comfort tyres are the closest to real life and the competition time is a proof, there’s plenty of videos in youtube comparing real life laps and comfort tyres is always the prefered to match stock road cars times and their steering movements

      make some real autocross with your BMW and find if you can lose control at low speeds lol pc simulators are not reality, most of them only make a good job with more forgiving racing cars with racing tyres, heck even the road cars are community made mods with no real life accuracy just collecting a few specs from the internet mixed with race car physics lol

    9. daics69

      not trying to be smart, is that how it is in gt5? coz sports tyres are still grooved just better compound where i’m from…

    10. SpeedTrap

      yeah in GT5 the sport tyres are like the real world semi slick, you can see the photo in the tyre selection menu and has also a description explaining each tyre use and compounds

      comfort tyre selection are all road legal and comfort soft equal to an high performance treaded tyre

  22. cbarbosa

    This event is STUPID!!!
    Did anyone took in consideration that are people who play GT5 with the PS3 controller!!??
    The car is impossible to control with the pad…
    Well done, PD…

    2. CorporateHammer

      Once again, “Driving Simulator” now is it a simulator without a wheel ? I honestly feel sorry for people who have not played GT5 with a wheel. The DFGT can be had for $100.

    4. Nismopower

      Dude i just did it with a pad, and got a 1:17:7 within 3 tries.
      Soo whats the big deal, i bet i could get in the 1:16 if i really really sit for it.
      Adjust the sensitivity to about 2-4 and then it works great !! :D
      Also have a wheel but didnt want to move my ps3 from living room to my own room,( still live at my mom’s home so no race seat in living room :( )

    5. sdasdadsa

      Impossible? You suck. This is driving simulator. What do you expect?
      I did 1.16.5 with the pad without any driving aids (except ABS was set to 1)

    6. SpeedTrap

      LOL at people playing always with asssist and race tyres and not doing good with realistic setups

      it’s your fault man not PD lol

  23. Karyuun

    …Jordan… What happened to my comment??? The comments from 9:04 to 11:30 were wiped out except for the 9:10 one… the second and third ones were fine… the first one wasn’t… Pointless removal in my opinion…

  26. Vortex

    anyone else have the issue that once you have a red lap, all laps after that one are red too? (starting from the finishline when on the track)

    2. Bolg

      Yeah it’s really annoying, I can’t get into a rhythm and I can’t push to the limit for fear that I’ll have to restart and warm up the bloody tyres again.

  28. Doupik

    I personaly think SLS is one of the worst cars in the game (but it might be actually driveable in reality :-D) and on top of that, we get if equipped with comfort tires! I’m so far from Gold Medal :-/
    At least I’m not losing any experience or awards by not trying to beat the time.

  29. pudge

    The seasonal event never showed up for me. Looks like it wasn’t avaialable in the U.S. … wish someone would’ve mentioned that earlier.

    2. p-coletray

      I got the show perfecly streamed, but no event in Seattle, so I went to practice mode. They were definitely misleading everyone who thought they would have the event. I’m sure it was in the fine print that it was only UK, but the advertisements, announcers, websites and news reports were blatantly stating “around the world”. Didn’t expect a bait and switch.

      Regardless, it was fun to watch, congrats to the winner, he looked like a real gamer, unshaved and a little rough on the edges haha.

  33. HPUnleashed

    That was awsome! I was hoping Jeremy Clarkson would pop in, but who knows? Maybe they’ll show this on their next series!

  34. funrun

    That was cool. Good thing David got a solid lap in before the rain came down and overcooking the brakes and tires. Good to see how close reality vs. GT5 really is.
    I would love to see an onboard lap side by side to see the braking points and lines they each took.

    Have fun in Brazil Birt!

  40. GTP_Davey07-O37

    Congrats to Birt and to David. Nice to see a close comparison between real and virtual. Great stuff!!…;-))..

  42. Vortex

    DC cut alot of corners but I think he hasn’t cut any on his hot lap tbh. I’ll need to see it again, but i’m pretty sure he hasn’t cut a corner then.

  47. Brandon

    Well that was pretty neat to watch. You could tell the winner was getting very frustrated with the commentator and the louadspeakers.

    1. BWX

      Yeaj I woulda been pissed off! The guy was screaming in his ear. Was DC getting screamed at in his car? I would have told the guy to back off and shut up. (politely)

  53. Jato4x4

    I don’t think Coulthard cut enough corners. His version of Chicago let you get on the gas alot quicker. Justice was served at the end when he tried to do some donuts, and just drove in a big circle slowly.

    1. BWX

      Sometimes flash players work in the PS3 browser, but this one did not. I use the PS3 browser a LOT. I had to watch this on the PC.

    1. BWX

      “bumper view” is more like looking out the center of the windshield than the bumper. it’s been proven over and over.

  58. Illopp00

    Really close with a slightly different line…Not exactly entirely fair for DC since the car will not be able to do full out laps for 15 minutes on the brakes and tires. In GT5 stock you might have a car broken in with oil change and not sure if the tires are a match (SH or CS)?

    2. Alvin23a

      It was working earlier today. But it was just showing that video where he talks about how it’s a track in the UK.

  78. funrun

    That SLS is just so HOT! Looking forward to this event and hope there are more unique events like this in the future.
    It would be nice if there were prize winning events like once a month to get more people to really push themselves to their max capabilities (although I know all guys running respectable times do anyway..lol)

    Looking forward to how exactly this will be streamed… should be interesting.

    Go Coulthard! and GO GT5 Boys!

  79. davissi

    Silly event, a load of random contestants means they’ll hardly stay on track and the one’s that do will be slow. A waste of time using DC. Why didn’t they run the seasonal online first ? It’s not rocket science !

    3. Thefrustratedgamer

      It seem to the online race is a silly thing, as the fastet lap is done by cheating in the 2nd corner!!
      Sadly a silly job done by the programmers

  83. Steve

    Can someone confirm if this seasonal event will run in real time with Coulthards car, it was supposed to be the largest simultaneous race according to some sources, but thats not the impression I get from GT Planets description of the event, does anyone actually know ?

  84. dening80

    Well Jonathan Legard just tweeted with topgeartrack as a hash tag. As he is down to commentate with Martin Brundle… that settles it I guess.

  85. potential91

    The event will take place in the UK, Martin Brundle posted a twitter comment saying he was driving to the event and was stuck on the M25, pretty sure he can’t drive to Germany in 4 hours….

  86. Geo_x

    The Facebook page anancoument:

    “The GT5 Mercedes-Benz Driving Event takes place today from 15.20 BST. Former F1 race winner and DTM star David Coulthard throws down the gauntlet to GT5 racers. Race him around the infamous secret track by taking part in the Mercedes Driving Event on the GT5 ‘Seasonal Events’ menu. The car and track will be announced at 15.00 BST allowing you a 20 minute practice session before the main event takes place. A global live leaderboard of the event will be viewable on gran-turismo.com from 15.20”

  88. BANZAI_BAM

    It’s the Top Gear test Track.

    He says he will be racing from a location WITHIN the UK. Can only be Top Gear Test Track.

  90. mobiletone

    NICE, just finished the SLS Nurburgring in the rain Special Events yesterday, this should be a blast. Let’s hope the secret track isn’t a wet lap. *nudge nudge*

    shame i’ll still be at work when this starts though.

  91. Geo_x

    So the actual live race will be only between the selective gamers (how they where choosed anyway) and the rest of us we will be able to play afterwards for no reason!?

  95. Amac500

    Top Gear test track, we all know David Coultard is the stig. No I’m just kidding, but it will be top gear test track, 80% sure.

    1. dudedo

      I think that the top gear track will be the venue because on the top gear website they had an article saying this would happen on a “super secret TEST Track”

  96. thewabel

    If you watch the video on the Merc sites, DC states that he’ll be on track a at a secret location in the UK (yesterday he “competed” in the DTM race at Brands Hatch,) so it must the Top Gear Test Track or London(??!) or …..DLC??

    2. BlindZenDriver

      Agree – but if so then my prediction is it’s the F1 circuit and not the Full Monty.

      DC raced DTM in the UK yesterday so I’d say that rules out tracks outside of Europe. The Top Gear test track could be a strong outsider considering the event has been mentioned on the Top Gear web site but with the whole Forza4 thing I’d say that is unlikely.

      Personally I think Monza would be cool but I think that will not happen. AFAIK there are a lot restrictions to how much it can be used being that it’s located in a park and all.

    3. Louie

      Had a look at the leaderboards in the seasonal events section of the game. Why were the GT5 players using comfort softs?? Pretty sure the SLS comes stock with sports tires at minimum…

    4. BroncosXR8

      Just goes to show how unrealistic the PD tyre model is, and that they clearly over represent what tyres are on which cars.

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