Wolfgang Reip Wins European GT Academy 2012
The European GT Academy final reached its ultimate conclusion at a sodden Silverstone earlier this afternoon, with Belgium’s Wolfgang Reip crowned the ultimate winner for 2012.
A day after the finalists were cut down to six – one from each region – and the qualification round, the Academy still had a surprise for the gamers with an early morning bleep test before their final challenge.
The final round of the GT Academy Race Camp was the race in Academy 370Zs at Silverstone just ahead of the World Endurance Championship 6hr of Silverstone race qualifier. With the race commentary live on Radio Le Mans, with guest commentator Jann Mardenborough alongside legendary Mackem John Hindhaugh, Wolfgang won the damp race from pole position, followed by Andrea Cosaro (from 6th on the grid), Rolf Ueltschi, Sebastien Bertrand, Des Foley and Hugo Gonçalves.
It took a further 2 hours of, sometimes heated, deliberation between the judges before the winner was announced as the BeNeLux region finalist Wolfgang Reip.
We wish Wolfgang all the best as he starts his training for the gruelling 2013 Dubai 24 Hours and sets off in the footsteps of Lucas, Jordan, Bryan and Jann!
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Newest comments are displayed first.
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August 28th, 2012 at 9:43 pm - #SZRT Ice
‘Gang reip? Ugh boy…
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August 29th, 2012 at 5:42 pm - #RB26 2jz
Haha that’s funny
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August 28th, 2012 at 1:32 pm - #Peasantslayer
How did Amo, Eclipsi and Titech do?
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August 28th, 2012 at 3:35 pm - #slowboyfast
TiTech isn´t able to participate anymore cause he has already been @ silverstone in first GTA, eclipsi didn´t go to nationals because he had bad experiences with unfair behavior (i guess) .. Amo i don´t know
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August 28th, 2012 at 5:11 am - #grasso89
On behalf of all Australian gt5 players, we would like to take this opportunity to thank all those for not including us in gt academy. We are just as quick and dedicated then most countries and that u are missing out on some great talent here. We play the game, we download the dlc’s. Please include us in the next installment. It is not fair, an I will make sure that the producers and makers of this game understand my concern. Thank u very much
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August 27th, 2012 at 10:50 pm - #RB26 2jz
Wolf Gang?
GOLF WANG
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August 27th, 2012 at 6:29 pm - #dalmaximus
I just want to reiterate that i was not calling this a fix, i just think that there was an advantage to the eventual winner. Anyway, i’m done with this argument. And famine, get over yourself with your ‘your move’, there is only arnold and you aren’t him.
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August 27th, 2012 at 10:44 pm - #magsolid
If he really had driven the real Nissan cars and raced at Silverstone before race camp, then i would considered that a liitle advantage or head start compare to other competitors.
You people who has been brainwashed by one dude who only had alittle time in real racecar and won the contest, and believe his the only one who had raced a real car. Simulator a the one that prepared him to win the contest the most. To me he is not much different compare to a guy who race on a vacation. -
August 28th, 2012 at 2:22 pm - #Hentis
You’ve made your point your not happy fine…Get over it.
So he’s driven in Karts and Cars, Ive driven a Dodge Viper, and a Jaguar XKR does this make it unfair that I also entered GT Academy…. No.The Dodge viper was lovely though :)
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August 27th, 2012 at 4:26 pm - #Rockford
Best gamer on merit is Ti-Tech85 by a mile but gaming does not mean much in the real world judging by this competition
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August 27th, 2012 at 5:00 pm - #davissi
You’re missing the point, Arnaud would completely wipe the floor with this guy on merit if he had that kind of head start with the real driving element. The game correlates very strongly with real world comparisons that why the competition exists. The only problem is when the results are skewed by some of the competitors having a massive head start on the others.
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August 27th, 2012 at 4:20 pm - #Rockford
You may be right could be fixed who knows
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August 27th, 2012 at 2:53 pm - #BLuNT318
ugh of course they are, this site isn’t the only one talking about this. Anyway, I can’t be a part of this anymore. I have read and wrote enough, I won’t write anymore on this, sorry, I get carried away sometimes.
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August 27th, 2012 at 2:44 pm - #leexr2i
The YouTube videos are now back up..
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August 27th, 2012 at 2:38 pm - #BLuNT318
Not so libeless now I’d say. Thanks for leaving my comments up and proving the few of us right. It was fixed, it was a sham, it was for the media and hype.. I do not wish Wolfgang all the best. It was all a hoax. Take the rose colored glasses off guys..
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August 27th, 2012 at 2:34 pm - #BLuNT318
LoL removal of links too now huh?? ROFL, I came to check what other crap people were talking about this being a legit comp, and noticed all the links were removed or blocked about the guy on various sites they were on not 24 hours ago! lol.. You are all a funny bunch, congrats to the fraud.. It’s the montra of the new age. So Famine, it’s something that his links were takedn down and any info on him gone as well huh? Must be some error or something, why on Earth would they do that I wonder? LOL… Fixed race is fixed. I win, game over. They lied and you ate it for breakfast lucnh and dinner, tasts good huh? :)
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August 27th, 2012 at 2:15 pm - #SilverArrow
I don’t have a problem with him winning but if you can compete with racing experience, why can’t you compete if you’ve made it to boot camp before?
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August 27th, 2012 at 1:25 pm - #Rockford
I believe the rules are you should not have a racing license he didn’t, other racing experience does not matter. Sure he had an advantage lucky him now hes a pro driver. Real driving is far removed from gaming, real life experience helps alot more if you can qualify In the first place
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August 27th, 2012 at 12:00 pm - #Earth
This is the “Jump the Shark” moment for the GT Academy
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August 27th, 2012 at 9:15 am - #MarcoM
Even though I would have liked to see a Dutchman finish first, well done to Wolfgang! Looking forward to see you on track.
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August 27th, 2012 at 8:14 am - #Neilson248
There is no such thing as the spirit of the rules and I believe that his experience may not be within the rules but he is not a pro racing driver and he like everyone else has been striving to make his dream come true… He
managed to get in the competition and win it so well done to him.-
August 27th, 2012 at 8:47 am - #dalmaximus
I agree with you, I’m just highlighting that this comp to find a gamer who created his skills through gaming, was able to apply his skills to real life. The academy was portrayed at being an experiment, could a gamer transfer the skills he learned on GT5 to that is real life?
This has not been the case because he had the skills in the first place.
Anyway, he has done what he had to do, congratulations, but when I see him racing on tv, I shall not look in the same adulation as I do if he had done this purely through skills learnt in gaming and having no real world racing experience.
I can accept someone karting recreationally but driving challenge cars, let alone a le man’s prototype is another matter. -
August 27th, 2012 at 10:28 am - #Kobooi
The guy was eligible according to GT Academy rules, so that’s it. There is nothing for you to accept or not accept. Whether he’s Hollywood zero-to-hero movie material is only relevant for those with a very naive view of the purpose of GT Academy.
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August 27th, 2012 at 7:19 am - #Racingworld68
I do not understand where all this fuzz is about, he won, and yes he has already drive a race car (wich was not against the rules). Well done Wolf, and also well done to Tom Coronel and Bas Leinders who guided him towards this victorie :tup:
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August 27th, 2012 at 7:19 am - #dalmaximus
For those of you not in the know and due to subsequent blocking of links to Wolfgangs video of him testing an LMP car. I just thought I would highlight that this years winner has an extensive career at national level karting, he has also tested an LMP car at Paul ricard circuit, he was offered a full time drive with an ELMS team, but funding proved difficult. He has also tested legends cars a number of times.
I’m not here to discredit any winners, I just think that in the spirit of the comp, he had an unfair advantage to those thinking that they were going to compete against another gamer, not an experienced racer.
Many have claimed that I am jealous, believe me I am not. I just believe in fair play and this does not represent fair play in my eyes.
I would have left links to help make up your own mind, though the links have been removed in order to mute the subject.
And to those who are complaining that this is getting boring and talking of DLC, there are dedicated forums and pages for that subject.Cheers guys :-)
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August 27th, 2012 at 7:40 am - #Progress823
That’s kind of an unfair advantage and should be looked into deeper as he did have race experience. Did any of the other competitors have actual racing experience?
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August 27th, 2012 at 8:07 am - #aJ1985
Sorry but get your facts straight, Wolfgang has never done any karting in national level.
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August 27th, 2012 at 8:28 am - #dalmaximus
How do you know this? I would back up my statement if the link hadn’t been removed.
Look, there are miniscule details that I might not have got right, if I got it wrong that he competed at national level, I am right that he had an extensive career in karting, he has tested an ELMS car and was offered a drive by the team, he has also raced challenge cars.
These posts look like I have something against the dude, I don’t, but I will not look at him as a gamer who became a racing driver, I will look at him as a nearly racing driver who eventuallygot a racing contract. The GT adverts show a comp player playing a comp game and then becoming a racing driver, as if it was a golden opportunity for someone who wouldn’t dream of having this chance. This fella has been around motorsport most his life, so it’s not exactly some random golden moment.
That’s all I’m trying to point out, it wasn’t really in the spirit of the competition. Fine he was the best but that was kinda obvious. -
August 27th, 2012 at 8:49 am - #aJ1985
Because he had to apply for an MSA National B licence last week and any previous licences would have shown up in the process, and you can not use something written by a sim racing website as a source because it was not written by Wolfgang himself.
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August 27th, 2012 at 10:21 am - #magsolid
How can he have an unfair advantage? I don’t get it, he probably only test drive fancy racecar a few times and on a few tracks, and that isn’t really enough to make him superior to any contestant. He is not considered to be an experienced racer.
He haven’t even race a real Nissan car or raced at Silverstone before, so he is learning something new like everybody else.
I bet in the previous GTA there’s a lot of those who have tried racing a real race car to prepare themself, but got beaten by those who who haven’t even raced the real car.
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August 27th, 2012 at 10:26 am - #magsolid
Just because one dude won this year GTA who had test racecar, doesn’t mean that it’s an unfair victory.
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August 27th, 2012 at 5:06 pm - #Progress823
It does if the other competitors did not have time in an actual race car. I thought the whole premise of GT Academy was to give opportunities for on-the-couch racers a chance to compete for a real world race car seat; not someone that has real world experience another chance to flourish. Just saying….
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August 27th, 2012 at 6:22 am - #Hentis
zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz oh look new DLC coming out!!
GTPlanet on Google+
Amo didn’t make it to day 2 off our Belgium finals.
I finished day 1 first. But Wolfgang took the lead after the first test on day 2. And never let go.
He was first too run the 370Z. When he took off in his first run, we were al like “OMG, this guy can drive.”
He even admitted that he had track experience. It’s up to the judges to decide if he can compete or not.
Track experience or not, i think he deserve’s to win. And no way this was a fix. He was strugling the first day in the Belgium finals.
So good luck Wolgang, and next year i won’t make that same mistake of driving first on day 2! ;o)