The Pikes Peak International Hill Climb – the most famous and challenging hill climb race in the world – has just announced that Gran Turismo will be the “Platinum Sponsor” for the 2015 event, and will even be part of the race’s official name.
“The Pikes Peak International Hill Climb is an event I’ve followed since my childhood,” stated Kazunori Yamauchi, creator of the Gran Turismo franchise. “We’re thrilled to become a part of one of the most historic and prestigious motorsports events in the world. Pikes Peak is such a unique race, there’s truly nothing that it can be compared to.”
“We are beyond excited to have developed a relationship with Gran Turismo and couldn’t have asked for a better organization to become partners with,” Tom Osborne, Chairman of the Board of The Broadmoor PPIHC, explained. “Yamauchi-san is such an incredibly talented and well respected individual: to have him put the name of the brand he has built from the ground up on our race is a true honor.”
The press release stops short of mentioning if the Pikes Peak rally course will be returning to the game, though it seems all but confirmed with Gran Turismo as the title sponsor of the event.
The Pikes Peak rally course was, of course, last seen in Gran Turismo 2, and it has become somewhat infamous over the past 15 years as fans have anxiously been hoping for its return – it is the ranked at #1 as most-wanted course in GTPlanet’s Track Suggestions forum, with more than 750 votes.
It is also often associated with the Suzuki Escudo Pikes Peak Hill Climb – one of the most popular and famous cars in the history of the franchise.
Photo by Yujiro Atsuki.
See more articles on Pikes Peak and Polyphony Digital.
ho~ya~~~ always hope!
I hope the include the classic version as well
I hope will have a Carbon Canyon duel like from NFS Carbon or Fast and Furious: Tokyo Drift Touge duel or Fast and Furious 6 of the GTR vs Challenger duel.
We could have an Initial D battle with use of a Lobby Online to Drift,Race & Time Trial like in Initial D but the style of the Pikes Peak looks like Codemasters’ GRID’s Touge
I wonder if I can drive my Toyota (AE86) Trueno in the Pikes Peak Down hill and a Mazda RX-7 for the Pikes Peak Hill Climb because we could have Touge duels like in Initial D were we can us lobbies like Drift and Race down that Pikes Peak was really a Touge track.
Isn’t this just a sponsorship? I really don’t think we should read into any sort of possibility to get the track back in GT any time soon. Yes it would be cool to get the track back in GT but with PD we REALLY shouldn’t try predict what they’re going to do. Even when they talk about features they want to add in GT they don’t deliver on a lot of them so until the track is announced and available to download there is no way to know for sure.
With PD, they tend to respond to fan requests, to one extent or another, especially if they’re wildly popular or catch Kaz’s fancy. A number of us have been asking for more racing league oriented stuff in Gran Turismo, and earlier this year, Kaz announced the partnership with FIA, and the fact that he was going to open dialogs with every motorsports group on the planet he could. We asked for damage since that mild stuff was included in GT2. We’re raising quite a fuss about a Livery Editor, some of Race Mod to return, and an Event Maker… there are a lot of things that Kaz could be persuaded to include in GT6 and 7. And events with associated tracks are something we should be intent to get a nudge to Kaz about, because the soul of a racing game is its cars, tracks and events included in it.
Keep asking for stuff, and we’ll get some of it.
I’m sure you have a source then that says they sought out the FIA partnership because a handful of people on a fansite were asking for more league racing oriented material right?
We’ve been asking for damage for 5 iterations of the game, none yet.
Been asking for a livery editor for 10+ years, none yet.
Race mod came, then it went.
Event maker has been on a few lists, especially since we had one in the Garage Editor in GT5..oh wait…none yet either.
Not a single car from the GT6 suggestion list added to the game.
One track from the GT6 suggestion list – ranked 82nd.
Yup, really listening.
I don’t get how you present a list of things we’ve been asking for for years and never even had a hint of receiving or that our ideas were being listened to, but yet an announcement of an association with the FIA, the details of which within the game you know nothing about, suddenly means PD responds to fan requests.
Hilarious I tell ya.
Yes you are, Johnny. ;D
That’s great. I don’t know if this means we’ll be getting Pikes Peak anytime soon, but it’s at least more likely than it was before we got this news.
Even I would have to say it’s more than likely, it’s probable at this point. Licensing or contractual obstacles may throw a monkey wrench into the gears, but a fly on the wall would probably tell you the deal is already done, but won’t be announced until the GT7 hype train leaves the station.
They’ll sponsor it in an update…ten months after the race is run.
Rather than not at all? One is a little better in my book.
This I think is a good indication of the return of Pikes to GT. Of course nothing has been confirmed however this ties in with Kaz advising there are some big updates to come. We have gone over a month without an update and possibly we won’t see it til the end of the month but I feel we will see the 1st of these so called “big updates” this coming update or shortly thereafter. Should we get PP there will be invisible barriers for sure as they are already pushing the PS3’s limits and we saw the same with Zahara/Seira however you prefer to reference it however only time well tell.
It may not show up till GT7 rolls around, but I’m confident we’ll see it by then. One thing I’m hoping this signals is a return to rallying in Gran Turismo, which has been dwindling since GT4. And it’s the one thing that has me hankering to drag out the PS2 to run around in GT4 again. The rallying was simply epical.
I’m hoping that the few big updates coming up include
– The Course Maker. After all, Zahara was supposed to be the prelude to it.
– The Event Maker, which would be necessary to create user events and racing series online. It would be a wonderful enhancement to the single player game too.
– Race Mod, which was sadly underutilized in GT5 – all of 17 cars! It needs to return, with many more cars available for this modification.
– Livery Editor, which fills even the paltry car stable in Forza 5 with many more and varied rides. It would be an incredible addition to GT6 and especially 7.
– Leaderboards. I think everyone knows what it would bring to the game.
– Bot A.I. improvement. This has been asked for about as much as new sound sampling. Along with it, a difficulty level for the single player game would be in order.
– New single player offline events. Even if we get an Event Maker, it would be nice for PD to flesh out the game some more with events the team designs themselves.
– The massive online system upgrade. While the whole enchilada might be put off for GT7, many of the tools for it should be able to be implemented in GT6. This was one aspect of GT6 a lot of people were looking forward to.
– More Super-standard cars and tracks? Quite possibly, and there could be a few DLC car packs and tracks forthcoming.
– Better damage? Sounds? Possibly.
In any case, here’s to looking forward to some tasty tidbits in GT6 to tide us over while we wait for something glorious on PS4.
Is it really necessary to spam every thread with your GT7 wish lists? Don’t you get tired of copying and pasting?
Fits right into the “time trial simulator” motif. No A.I. required. Perfect.
They would have to figure a way for it to work online because if they do with Pikes Peak and Isle of Man what they did with Goodwood and make it offline only, that would not be good imo.
The game is crying out for an online Time Trial mode for point to point, narrow and frankly why not all courses?. Cars “enter” the event online and then either launch at fixed intervals, say 5-10 seconds, and ghost if another car gets near you (optional I guess). Fastest time wins.
Because you’re right, if it’s offline only, interest fades as fast as Tony Romo in December. I mean who has even mentioned Goodwood in the last 9 months outside of the Viagra Forum?
Maybe it’s just me, but I’m not seeing much difference between a single entrant time trial offline or on. So I’m not fussed if it’s offline only.
JP you know what the little darlings online are like, they’d never accept a wait of longer than instantaneous. Also, just think back to GT5 and the offline Rally TTs which had a similar, official staggerd start – that wasn’t too popular for precisely that reason.
Personally, I think you have a good idea there (it was done in WRC1/2/3 and 4) but PD will be damned if they do, and equally damned if they don’t. That’s going to be their biggest headache, how to implement it online.
IMO MeanElf, if a game wants to call itself a “driving simulator” and a “car encyclopedia” it has to do a much better job of catering to the niche elements of motorsport, not just throw out a generic driving game and leave it up to all the players to figure out a way to cruise, drift, drag, rally, Time Trial etc. I don’t believe the programming is that complicated, quite simple really, it’s just a matter of acknowledging that a small segment of players would enjoy this and then doing the work. It won’t appeal to a huge portion of the fanbase, but neither does cruise, drag, drift, or any other mode outside of circuit racing. But combine them altogether and they are a significant portion of the fanbase and deserve some attention if the series is to continue to be ahead of the wave and not riding behind it in tugboat.
I agree 100% with JP, PD need to not be afraid to cater to minorities. Since we’re not going to see GT7 before June next year, that surely means the track is due for GT6? That is, of course, if it’s coming at all – but there was that Red Bull snafu a while back…
I’m unaware of many racing games that have a drag racing mode in them, and frankly, I think it’s about as exciting as drifting. But there is drifting available as a game mode in both GT5 and 6, so I guess keep making noise about it and maybe it’ll end up in GT6 or 7.
Time trial has been there since early days, but I suppose this is alluding to the inclusion of Leaderboards. There is quite a call for that to be in Gran Turismo soon, so pursure that as well. And Rally has been slipping down the hill climb to obscurity, but the fans have been making noise about that as well, so we’ll see what comes of either new events in GT6 or the overall game design of GT7.
As for this “cruise” critter, what the heck is it, and how do you make a game mechanic out of it??
If you want something in GT6 and 7, keep engaged in the various boards and stir up discussion about it.
@Griffith, including this track is more of an issue of whether they can get it to work properly on the PS3 and whether it’s worth the effort to make it work on the old hardware and of course, if it’ll impact the bottom line. But catering to minorities involves more than just producing content which has been PD’s focus in the past. “Put it in the game, they’ll figure out what to do with it after we give them a TT”. I believe the fans are crying out for more.
@TenD “If you want something in GT6 and 7, keep engaged in the various boards and stir up discussion about it.”
Sorry, can’t tell if serious. I doubt you’d ever see the irony of that statement if serious.
Still stalking, I see…
Confirmed. I didn’t think you’d see the irony.
Kaz is such a tease.
OH MY GOSH, YES.
if they did add it , i am afraid it will be another invisible wall nightmare or fenced off like gt2 , hence taking the main attraction out of the track, the off the cliff butt clenching danger. i just cant see kaz uping his game
Naturally, I would not expect to see that until PS4 as the amount of detail for the drop offs would kill the PS3. Still would love to have this added to the track roster. Maybe have it so if you go off you get spawned back on track or your run grinds to a massive halt and you need to restart.
Not everyone may agree, but after watching the GT2 reply it really makes me appreciate how far the franchise has come in 15 years. The modern graphics are amazing in comparison.
Who cares. They completely ruined it years ago when they paved it. Pikes Peak is a complete disgrace to what it used to be
10/10 ^
if it’s any consolation, the climb to the Von Trapp Family Lodge is still unpaved :D
lmao @lambob
You haven’t driven Pikes Peak yourself. I went to the 2010 race, when the road still had large gravel sections, and they were pitted to hell. Went for a drive up the mountain last summer, fully paved, and I was able to enjoy it all the way up. Sure, it takes a bit away from the race most of us will only ever be able to watch, but now Joe Average can have some fun when the road’s not closed to the public.
Besides, if you remember, GT4 had different years of a couple tracks. IF Pikes turns up in GT7, there’s always a chance Polyphony will be nostalgic and include the older alternating-surface version that is so prominent in enthusiasts’ memories.
This has to do with safety all race tracks have been altered over the years with arnco, run offs, corners removed or altered, barriers ect. At the end of the day we have less fatalities which means that we still get to see our favorite drivers another time. Take Alan McNish’s horror Le Mans crash how he walked away from that still boggles my mind and the fact there were photographers, track officials and spectators in the are and no one got hurt further does ones head. Back in the day it would have been one of the most tragic crashes ever seen. I get your point Tom but this is where we are at unless as mentioned before PD did an 80’s variant ala Monza and Brands.
Well that seems mighty indicative :)
Here’s hoping 500!
It could mean nothing…
I think they are trolling us again.. sigh.. but they probably know that the series is hanging from a very thin thread so will no doubt deliver.. I buy when I see the goods first this time though.. and all of them.
As I said below, unfortunately “sponsored by GT” doesn’t mean “confirmed for GT.” If that was true, every single car in the Nurburgring 24h would be in the game.
How can a series be hanging by a thread and still sponsor a major event like this? Don’t forget that PD plays the long game.
Blackberry one of the major sponsors of the Mercedes AMG F1 team and they are hanging on by a thread.
I’m sure the success of GT1-5 has built up quite a warchest for PD and GT6 still has decent numbers for what’s probably a relatively lower cost game for them to produce. The vast majority of it is copy/paste from GT5 really.
Blackberry have never produced a good product, ever…
Will everyone be forced to use SRF?
LOL
Not again please! ROFL
Classic Leggacy!
The nostalgia is real!
PD must now see the opportunity to bring back this long forgotten GT classic. May they seize this opportunity without hesitation! If this track, and the Isle of Man TT course makes GT7, that will be beyond anything ever included in a racing game before.
I actually got excited for a bit there. Now I’m sad.
I wouldn’t read too much into, playstation and GT have been sponsoring/partaking in endurance racing for years and we still don’t have of that.
Damn, we’ve from hearing nothing in the past 7 weeks to now having the M4 pace car yesterday and now the Pikes Peak Announcement.
Looks like the silence was them getting everything situated, now they’re hauling ass it seems
hauling ass? What kind of ass? Hot racing motorsport racecraft ass? Or corporate (body without a soul) marketing ass?
Sponsored by Gran Turismo? What about featured in Gran Turismo? ;)
Pikes peak and the isle of Man, awww hell yeah.
Sounds awesome! Pikes peak is a fantastic course, so if it returns, I will be very happy.
Same here. Here’s hoping fervently.
+1 Ferrari and MeanElf. Unfortunately “sponsored by GT” doesn’t mean “confirmed for GT.” If that was true, every single car in the Nurburgring 24h would be in the game.
Not quite, Gran Turismo sponsors the event, not the teams, so every car uses the logo on their windshield, but the track used for the event, the Nurburgring is in the game, expect the same for Pikes Peak, cars with the GT logo on their winshield/livery without them necessarily being in the game, but the track being in game, also the partnership would attract people if they add the track into the game and put a couple of ps3/gt6/racing wheel sets for the people to go and drive on the track, like on Le Mans, Nurburgring or in Fuji
Indeed, ‘sponsored by GT’ doesn’t equate to ‘featured by GT’ but the timing, plus the presence of two Pike’s Peak cars already, along with the trailblazer is leaning me toward hope that something big has been up a certain sleeve for quite some time :)