(Live stream begins at 10:00 in the above video.)
This is it – the United States’ GT Academy National Finals are finally here, and the top 20 Gran Turismo players in the United States are set to face off just a few steps away from Nissan’s North American Headquarters in Nashville, TN!
All the action kicks off Tuesday, July 14 at 15:00 GMT/UTC (convert this to your time zone) right here.
As last year, a full day of virtual head-to-head racing in GT6 will be broadcast live on PlayStation’s official Twitch.tv channel. I’ll be hosting the stream with professional racer, rally driver, and motorsports TV personality Andrew Comrie-Picard. We’ll be joined by last year’s GT Academy champion Nicolas Hammann and original U.S. GT Academy champion Bryan Heitkotter.
The 20 competitors will face off in four rounds of two virtual races in GT6, scoring points in each event. They’ll be grouped by initial qualifying times, and will then be re-grouped based on point standings for subsequent rounds. The points structure will keep the competition close (4 for first, 3 for second, etc.), and the day will end with a special race as Nicolas and Bryan face off against this year’s contenders. After a series of real-life driving challenges, fitness tests, and media queries on Wednesday, the top six drivers will ultimately move forward to represent the United States at International Race Camp in Silverstone.
Of course, we’d love to hear from you guys – be sure to join the Twitch.tv live chat, tweet using the #GTAcademy hashtag, and join the live discussion thread here in our forums to share your thoughts and questions during the broadcast.
Here’s a list of all the finalists to keep an eye out for during the event, with their names and the PSN handles you probably know them by:
- Armen Aghakhan (TRC_LoCoArM3n)
Glendale, CA - Brian Avila
- Kevin Brents (PureCry)
Riverside, CA - John Brunner (JBStig76)
Pomona, NY - Connor Carroll (ConnorWolf)
Columbia, SC - Matthew Crossen (SabirKnight)
Pequea, PA - Mark Gibson (MarkG198211)
Colfax, NC - Lance Gomez Jr. (SprintCupChamp1)
Bronx, NY - Doug Hawkins (GTP_Importlife)
Brea, CA - Max King (maxking39)
Franklinville, NJ - Ryan Lynch (rclynch)
Broomfield, CO - Joseph “JT” Lauro (BLKJ_Evolution)
Clearwater, FL - Tyler McFarland (Encvell)
Fort Collins, CO - Jaylon Nguyen (Crystalline_Tear)
Beaumont, TX - Milan Josef Plachy (milanplachy)
Bozeman, MT - ErickFrank Santiago (gtr3123)
Virginia Beach, VA - Vladimir Skirda (vovik05)
Hermantown, MN - Gonzalo Torres (EpicGonzago3)
Phoenix, AZ - Tyler Utley (proper_t11)
Santa Clara, UT - Ricky Wilson (Atk_Chopin)
Oneida, WI
See more articles on GT Academy 2015 and PlayStation.
Woo! Nice work Jaylon! You worked hard to get where you are! keep up the pace Crystal xD Your making The Polyphony IndyCar Series Proud!
Best of luck to everyone
Are we able to watch the finals on an archived stream?
I have updated the video player above to show the archived version of the live stream.
I have to say thank you for finally switching to full course track map for the final race, It makes a world of difference as a spectator. I also must say that Jordan and Andrew_Comrie-Picard should replace Leigh Diffy at NBCSN for F1 and or that guy now doing NASCAR for NBCSN. Very entertaining commentary. I really enjoyed it. I just wish you didn’t change camera angels 20 times a lap.
They could really use someone there with a separate feed, looking at different camera angles, and doing the switching for the broadcast screen. A producer of sorts I guess. Andrew sounded really familiar but I didn’t recognize his face. Probably from some tv work. Good show and very entertaining commentary. Well done fellas!
Andrew has done a lot of TV work and was a producer for the U.S. Top Gear, check out his full resume with a Google search. He also co-hosted the Mario Andretti “First Love” GT6 launch campaign.
Just received $1 million in game credit! Thanks @Jordan :)
Go get em Connor! Use the monday night miata experience!
I tried Robbie! Next year I’ll get em’ for sure, no prisoners! xD The SNAIL Miatas experience came in most handy in the GTR Nismo ’14 at midfield where I won the first race and made it back to 2nd for the reverse grid (before some bad luck from behind took me out). That was a great combo.
Next year!!
Is there anyplace which shows thew days rankings?
Please please please just set it to replay camera angle and set track map to full. And then put the controller down and step away from the PS3. It’s giving me a headache.
Great job Vovic..
Would be more interesting to watch 1st and 2nd car than last and hear nonsense..
lol….wut?
How many people can claim the codes?
One per code.
what kind of wheel setup are they using
Pretty cool to see that someone from VA made it! ✊
is there only so many redemption per code allowed I can’t get any of them to work
I’m pretty sure I know Tyler McFarland
Very helpful list Jordan, nice.
Are these GT6 codes only valid for US PSN users? Can’t get them to work.
Yes siree, so far I got 1 500k and 4 100k lol
So, Jordan any funny or awesome stories about your golf carting days?
Oh and GO Ricky Wilson Atk_Chopin since he’s from Wisconsin as well ;-)
Whats the deal with the “GT6 In-Game Credit” in the lower right corner of the stream?
Ha nevermind Jordan just explained it lol
^…where?
What was it all about? i missed that.
Go Milan!
Go gtr, go. All that racing we did on GT5 and GT6 is about to pay off for sure….
Stay on point.
What is it with curly-haired dudes running major GT sites? There’s me and Jordan, and probably a few others.
I’ll definitely give this a watch if I can find the time today.
Go Lance!
Best of wishes SCC!!! Racing at the Speed of Life!!!
Cheers
The COTW regulars are rooting for you Lance. :)
Go hell for leather out there. ;-)
Go Encvell! (You’re still GoJet64 to me… ;) ) Glad to see you made it! You’re a great racer!
My boy Lance has got this ;)
Best luck to Connor and Vovik, two guys I had the pleasure to race with quite often.
Why does Brian Avila not have a user name next to it like all the rest?
Finally back to good old Twitch. Best of luck to all finalists! :D