My Journey: 2013 US GT Academy Champion

  • Thread starter GumballCGT
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tj7alberto
Gum, based on your experience at GTA, Is GT6 really a game that can improve your real world driving skills? Or is it better to move on to simulators like iRacing and the likes?
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I think any of the driving games can improve your real world skills up to a point. There's only so far you can get to the realism of driving a real car though. I haven't had the chance to really sit down and play iRacing or some of the other simulators so I cannot speak very much about them. As far as the simulators go I think it's great for learning the basics of driving and going around the track such as learning lines for example. But it will (almost) always lack the real physics of a real car.

TerryLabonte44
Congrats Nick on winning US GT Academy 2013! Is there a chance we will see you rce the Rolex 24 at DAYTONA in a few weeks, I also wish you good luck in the Dubai 24!
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Sadly, nothing of the sort yet that I've heard of for racing in the states for me in the next year. I only know up to Dubai for exact specifics. Definitely no Daytona 24H though as even Steve Doherty will not be racing it. A driver lineup was announced today for that race. Hope they do well and it's awesome to see Nissan taking a serious effort in the new Tudor Championship. I believe it will possibly lead me to some racing in Tudor in the near future. Crossing my fingers!

ATLskydiver
How do you feel like you compare to your European team mates?
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Honestly, we are all pretty even but we each have our good and bad days. We have all progressed well throughout the training program and should have a good fast group for Dubai. But I've been told by Mr. Danny Sullivan to show those Europeans I mean business!

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To answer those about salary, accommodation, etc...

I won't get into it and they probably wouldn't want me to but it's not a completely $0 contract nor is it a $1M contract either lol. But basically all my expenses are paid for and there's some spending cash. I'm not left to flounder at all. As far as accommodations the hotels we've stayed in haven't been bad either. I'd say average to nicer depending on where we go. But of course I haven't yet traveled outside the UK for that stuff yet. For food I will say I've had some really good lamb a couple times now to say the least :sly:. Most of the time we were doing our own grocery shopping and cooking while at the house.
 
GumballCGT
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To answer those about salary, accommodation, etc...

I won't get into it and they probably wouldn't want me to but it's not a completely $0 contract nor is it a $1M contract either lol. But basically all my expenses are paid for and there's some spending cash. I'm not left to flounder at all. As far as accommodations the hotels we've stayed in haven't been bad either. I'd say average to nicer depending on where we go. But of course I haven't yet traveled outside the UK for that stuff yet. For food I will say I've had some really good lamb a couple times now to say the least :sly:. Most of the time we were doing our own grocery shopping and cooking while at the house.
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Strange how the question of salary always gets brought up. Most of those who've tried to get anywhere with motor racing but have fallen short because of finances will gladly take an unpaid season long drive in any championship if they happened to come across one. The contract the Nismo Athletes are under are actually better than some of the Red Bull Juniors as far as I can remember because those guys have to pay for ALL their expenses apart from the cost to race Formula Renault, etc.
 
Have a great trip and may your racing be smooth, fast, and incident free. I'm envisioning a podium finish for you and the guys! :cheers:

BTW I'm a nutritionist, and if I could give you just one piece of advise, avoid wheat gluten (bread, pasta, etc) from now until after the race, it can cause 'brain fog' and lack of focus. Try getting carbs from other sources like rice or oats. Not sure what your food options will be, but that's my sincere advise.

Good luck to Y'all and stay cool. :cool:
 
As an amateur who enjoys track days and racing, It is absolutely inspiring to see how far you've gotten. Best of luck, I'll be cheering you on.
 
GumballCGT
Why might this be? Well, from what I've found you can get the exact speed you want through a corner and know exactly how the car is going to act. Most people enter with too much speed and hope they can get the car through the corner and fight it the whole way. Not the most consistent approach either. The "slower" approach allows you to get a better entry and sometimes carry more speed through a corner. Plus, you can usually get on the throttle sooner since you have a better exit angle. Thus, carrying more speed where it counts.
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Sounds just like how I drive in-game and it works wonders. That strategy failed spectacularly during US Finals, though, which leads to my next question (open to everyone).

When it's an unfamiliar car at an unfamiliar track, how do you figure out how fast you can push it from the onset? Even in the game, I start out awful if I don't get in some practice. Do I just lack that "natural sense"?
 
outlaw4rc
Sounds just like how I drive in-game and it works wonders. That strategy failed spectacularly during US Finals, though, which leads to my next question (open to everyone).

When it's an unfamiliar car at an unfamiliar track, how do you figure out how fast you can push it from the onset? Even in the game, I start out awful if I don't get in some practice. Do I just lack that "natural sense"?
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Every motorsport event will have practise sessions before you race. They all start off slow and build up speed from there. And gumball dont forget to say hi to James Moffat his dad is an icon in Australian Motorsport
 
@outlaw4rc

I don't feel like I can lecture you too much, given how far you progressed (and I didn't), but my guess is that you just really have to pay attention a lot during the first few corners. You obviously will have to take them somewhat conservatively, and you just have to use the feedback about how quickly the car decelerates/accelerates/turns in/body roll etc., and extrapolate that to other situations farther down the track (in your head, before you get there). It's really just using one braking situation to get a better estimate of a second one, and so on. Then you have to remember every mistake for every corner (turned in too early turn 1, brake later turn 2, hit the apex earlier turn 3, etc), and implement your changes at the earliest available opportunity (lap 2 hopefully).

My thought is that also a lot of the best guys already know just about every car you could imagine inside and out, as well as the tracks. They know if the car has a solid rear axle, what the weight balance of the car is like, and where turn-in should generally be for the course ahead of time. Then it's just a matter of refining it as quickly as possible.

Those are just my thoughts- see if you agree or not. I finished top 1000 in Gt Academy last year - not top 100. :P
 
Again, you're so lucky! :D

I saw Steve Doherty posted a video of a hot lap he did of the Dubai track, if anyone wants to see the layout and what lines he takes. That 370Z sounds soooo good. :drool:

 
GumballCGT
Haha how so? I haven't seen anything on it other than a photo he posted of the car.
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Yeah that was the recent one... there were a couple last week that got retweeted by the GTA account about looking forward to racing with the Academy winners. Just busting your nuts... Now go win races so you can also be a former F1 driver some day. :P
 
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:bowdown: Nick, you're driving brilliantly, #123 in 1st place in class by miles, consistent quick laps, totally amazing performance! You're making us all so proud.

Just heard your interview at the end of your stint on radiolemans, good stuff. :cool:

Half way through the race, cheering Y'all on! :cheers:
 
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You did great nick all of us in Snail couldn't be any happier for you:gtpflag::gtpflag::gtpflag::cheers:

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