GTPlanet

It’s always kind of interesting to find out that a celebrity shares your hobby for sim racing – especially when that celebrity competes in the highest level of international motorsport!  Renault Formula 1 driver Nelson Piquet, Jr. gave lots of Gran Turismo fans something to smile about when he recently posted the above picture to Twitter from what appears to be his apartment in Monaco.  As you can see, he’s at Suzuka East with the “racing line” enabled – needless to say, that’s something that’s earned him some friedly jibes in our forums!  Regardless, Nelson embraces the web, and communicates frequently via Twitter about everything he’s doing – it’s worth following him at @NelsonPiquet_ (you can follow @GTPlanetNews, too!).

Of course, this isn’t the first time we’ve seen a Formula 1 star behind the wheel of a Gran Turismo game.  Nelson’s teammate and two-time F1 World Champion, Fernando Alonso, played Prologue (at High Speed Ring) against some lucky Spanish gamer last year.

Sim racers love their hobby, and we’ve seen some pretty impressive setups over the years (see our Racing Cockpits forum for more).  This, however, raises the bar to a completely new level – it’s a full size replica of a Ferrari F1 car wired up for video gaming, and it can be yours for £13,500 ($18,944 USD).  The mysterious model is actually listed for sale on a website where ‘real’ F1 cars can be bought and sold, but this one substitutes a PlayStation 2 in place of a V10.  Yes, that’s right – more than $18,000 and you don’t even get a PlayStation 3!

Of course, it does come fitted with “play Station 2 steering wheel and pedals”, and they even throw in a copy of F1 ‘06.  That’s nice, but it does make you why the owner wouldn’t splurge for a PS3 and a copy of GT5 Prologue…  Regardless, this mother-of-all racing seats includes the necessities like real mirrors, seat belts, and slick tires.  Information is scarce, and the seller can only be contacted by proxy which makes it even more difficult to find out more about this ridiculous toy – it will probably take $18,944 to find out. Check out the full listing and place your order right here.