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!
See more articles on GT Academy 2012, GT Academy 2012 EU Race Camp, and Wolfgang Reip.
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)
‘Gang reip? Ugh boy…
Haha that’s funny
How did Amo, Eclipsi and Titech do?
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
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
Talk to your goverment, they are the ones responsable for excluding Australia….
The government????? Lol
Wolf Gang?
GOLF WANG
O
F
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G
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T
A
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.
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.
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 :)
Best gamer on merit is Ti-Tech85 by a mile but gaming does not mean much in the real world judging by this competition
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.
You may be right could be fixed who knows
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.
The YouTube videos are now back up..
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..
No links were “taken down”. The page still existed though some information was edited – there are many valid reasons for this. There’s still no evidence of any “fixing”. As I said, feel free to provide it and we’ll judge it critically – or we could just jump to silly, libellous conclusions about two large companies with very large legal departments. In the meantime:
http://www.gtplanet.net/forum/showthread.php?p=7539680#post7539680
Your move.
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? :)
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?
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
This is the “Jump the Shark” moment for the GT Academy
Even though I would have liked to see a Dutchman finish first, well done to Wolfgang! Looking forward to see you on track.
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.
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.
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.
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:
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 :-)
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?
Sorry but get your facts straight, Wolfgang has never done any karting in national level.
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.
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.
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.
Just because one dude won this year GTA who had test racecar, doesn’t mean that it’s an unfair victory.
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….
zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz oh look new DLC coming out!!
…and they’ve edited the westernwolves story so that there’s no mention of any of the racing cars any more or karting, just gaming. Is this what they call manipulation of the media? That’s very strange why this has happened? Its almost as if someone has contacted the website since he won GT Academy ;)
I find it so funny that they have removed the links, it’s hilarious. Well, at least we know the truth, mulder and scully would be proud.
I wonder why he took the LMP2 test video down? Its a bit late now, should’ve done that in the first place.
Lol
The funny thing is, I only typed his name in to get a closer look at the guy as the pics were pretty unclear on here, then I discovered all of the vids and history. I know those opposed to my opinion accuse me of bitterness, I’m just a fair player and in my mind that wasn’t fair.
Good luck to the dude but no way
Cont – but no way will I watch him in admiration. As they say, practice makes perfect, and in my eyes this guy had a lot of practice. This was about finding a gamer of literally no race experience, this is a gamer/racer.
Can you blame him? He has been approved by the GTAcademy to participate but still people keeps moaning about it when he wins zZZ
Congratulations Wolfgang. To everyone moaning, how can you not expect that people who has been doing a bit of driving are not going for this? Wolfgang is NOT a experienced racer just because he has tested a couple of times in real life. In the end Wolfgang’s advantage was not unfair – since he was eligible for the competition like everyone else who participated.
And ofcourse everyone who made the final 6 did an awesome job!!
Zzz
congrats…. I guess. does smell a bit though
Congratulations
Is he Wolfeke (psnid) player?
Everyone complaining that he raced karts and he has most driving time in real life.
First I’m laughing at you guys who complain he raced KARTS. karts and cars are much different. Ok you’ll be fitter than a average gamer but all you learn really is the lines and some control. In a car theirs much more happening. If you play a simulator game eg rFactor . You would have a good as a chance of winning as the kart driver!
Number 2. What can you do if he has loads of driving time done. He can do as many of track days etc as he wants. It’s his way of preparing. GT Academy can’t watch him or anything.
Gillard, I don’t call an lmp race car a go kart. Check the video links out below before you put your point across.
I’m done with this argument, debate so I’ll leave you to it.
Does the DLC arrive this week??
This discussion is boring…
Congrats to all the participants.
He was not better than the rest.. He had more expreience in real life cars, and he was groomed to be the winner. People that think otherwise are delusional, look it up. I am also done on this subject and won’t read the comments anymore, too many ignorantly blissful people reside here/
Someones jelly HAHAHA! Just give up and get over yourself, its late now. The guy already won so no need to burn yourself out. Keep envying sore loser. XD
Again. Congratz on your win Wolfgang Reip, and good luck. :)
Isn’t that a contradiction? He was not the best, which was because he had the most experience? If you have the most racing experience, I think you’re the most eligible for the title of a pro race car driver, but only if you prove it by winning.
I am with Famine on this one …nothing beats cold logic :-). The dude was better than the rest overall …simple as that. Happens in the workplace too, i.e. its not always the hard workers who get the promotions. Its the people who work well but display the best “fit” that get the promotions. Its life and its how it rolls whether in entertainment, motosports or the corporate world. Just cope. Congrats Des! All the best to you.
I have to agree with some of the opinions here, that this was unfair. FACT. I could care less about it, and for that matter who won. I read up on it, and the FINALS were FIXED. Get over it, deal with it and move on. If you can’t see that, well then that just proves it further. You CANNOT dispute the FACT this hoax was fixed, lol.. And the fact Famine is arguing and defends this is absurd. You make yourself look silly, but since you have the power, you can remove my comments and ban me… Sounds kinda abusive in power, but we can’t have KAZ reading any slights against GT.. Whatever, this GT Academy has lefet a crap taste in my anf most other’s mouths.. Congrats to the “winner” lol… What a joke
Please provide evidence of the finals being fixed – and of us removing your comments and banning you. We’ll happily explore all actual evidence and, since you insist, leave your libel up there on display.
In the meantime, here’s us not allowing any “slights” against GT:
http://www.gtplanet.net/complex-gt5-bug-causes-problems-for-online-racers/
http://www.gtplanet.net/this-gran-turismo-5-bug-can-kill-your-game/
http://www.gtplanet.net/monza-monaco-in-latest-b-spec-gt5-seasonal-events/
Congratulations Wolfgang! Completely deserved win!
I’m not sure what I should think about it …
but all the best and congratulations to the winner
Wolfgang you are the man.
You earnt it, top performer in a lot of the events. You kept getting faster.
Train hard, and I’ll see you soon. :)
Jann
His previous training/driving probably helped. Not an original off the couch gamer like other winners.
Fair play to you, Des!
Famine the thing is , you´re wrong if you think that Wolfgang was the best driver this year , he was behind another guy all week on driving tests , press and other stuff.. . Well , Des Foley probably knows it´s true , but i respect his “public” opinion about this mess .That “other guy” was not a racing driver , only a Gran Turismo player .
The evidence says otherwise – he won (feel free to congratulate him). He also qualified on pole for the final race and won that. What evidence do you have supporting your position?
I cannot get over that some here are knocking one of our own (a gamer) simply because he has more experience in the driving seat than others. Wolfgang has been an active member of GTWeb for years as far as I can see. ( For those who don’t know GTWeb, perhaps you should brush up on your GT gaming history). Unbelievable and shameful.
^ Also tell that to @dalmaximus. Because he’s the one who started the whole crap about it and the others joined him, and he envys the poor guy. Humans are really unbelievable, seriously…
LoL..Toko, am really enjoying your comments here :) keep them comming. Cheers
Toko, stop crying. I’m sorry I insulted your hero. I’m entitled to my opini,.
@sphinx who cares if the winner has been part of gt planet it doesn’t take much to sign up to a webpage. It’s not like my own brother.
@dalmaximus,
where did I say that he a was a GTPlanet member? You have an uncanny knack reading things that simply aren’t there. How on earth do you expect others to take you seriously when you can’t even comprehend a short and simple posting. You also missed the part that stated that Wolfgang has been an ACTIVE member of GTWeb for years, so it’s not just the matter of signing up to a webpage my friend. :rolleyes:
@sphinx, okay, kudos to you for your observation, although I have read somewhere that he has been a member of gt planetfor a while. Okay, you screamed treason for going against, (one of our own), well we aren’t a group of close knit brothers.
And I wasn’t asking everybody to agree with my rhetoric, I simply pointed readers to a couple of links in order for them to make up their own mind, tut tut.
Congratulations !!! :-)
hey,there is other classes at silverstone this weekend!
Welldone Belgium, Welldone Woffgang. Godspeed and all the best for Dubai.
This is a Google search for Wolfgang Reip…
http://www.google.co.uk/#hl=en&sclient=psy-ab&q=wolfgang+reip&oq=wolfgang+reip&gs_l=hp.3..0j0i30l3.1244.10839.0.13233.14.11.0.3.3.0.178.1408.1j10.11.0…0.0…1c.IsG0qOtnwbU&pbx=1&bav=on.2,or.r_gc.r_pw.r_qf.&fp=e4cbb638a32ca3ed&biw=1602&bih=894
I really thought this was aimed at sim-drivers, not people with the experience this guy has…
:(
Shame on his involvement in this series for “ordinary console gamers”…
So GT Academy is now a proving ground for every real driver who couldn’t make it in the real world by himself??
:(
Another dark day for Polyphony…
True! The official rules (UK version so it’s English: http://www.google.co.uk/url?q=http://eu.gran-turismo.com/gb/academy/2012/rules/&sa=U&ei=g_g5UJmzDqXP4QSJjoHwBw&ved=0CBMQFjAA&usg=AFQjCNEfZMCqVZ5340yxdVq0hTBvftZNzg ) say competitors may “not have competed in any form of 4 wheeled motorsport at a national championship level more than two full seasons (the promoter reserves the right judge what classes as National level motorsport) ;”, while this source says he competed on a National level in Kart racing: http://www.westernwolves.com/content/News/A_new_driver_joins_the_ranks_of_WWRacing-200.html It doesn’t provide information how long he did though. Still, seems like somebody who raced ” Yaris Cup, Formula Renault 2.0, Formula 3, Legends Cars, Porsche Cayman Cup and most recently the high speed LeMans Series LMP-C car where he showed great speed immediately even receiving a proposition from a team to race in ELMS” (taken from source above) is WAY more experienced than any of the other competitors. Seems pretty unfair.
Very Poor competion!! Let’s hope they improve things for next year and not just keep there sponsors happy. Another very sad day for gt5 racers.
Just looked this dude up, I’m not sure if it’s the same fella but if it is he has a shed load of experience.
This is a video of him testing at Paul ricard in what looks like an lmp2 car
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g6_f1lcLRU8&feature=youtube_gdata_player
Again, as I said it might not be him, however, I feel more confident that the following link is the guy, where it goes on to say how he ‘competed at national karting level after growing up on karts’
http://www.westernwolves.com/content/News/A_new_driver_joins_the_ranks_of_WWRacing-200.html
If any of these links are him then the GT academy is flawed and unfair. I thought this was about finding natural talent, created by just playing on sims and not having real life competition experience?
All these guys who got through to the finals had no chance becoming the winner when the likes of this guys experience is on show. Might as well have stuck johnny Herbert in the comp.
Bad luck des Foley, you displayed great car control at the first elimination round.
It is the dude, and he has a shedload of experience, almost as much as a pro driver. Come on gt academy do your research.
I may sound bitter but I’m not speaking for my myself, I’m speaking for all competitors who slog away at the comp for hours, only to be blown away by literally a secret racing driver.
How is this possible , GTAcademy ?
This cheater should have been disqualified .
GTAcademy is a good idea but an very bad and unfair competition!!!!!!!
not the best simracer is winnig, its the guy who has most realcar expirience that wins!
i think all the other winner of the years befor has that real race expirience too, in karting or whatever, thats why GTAcademy never posting the PSN names of the racers, cause the are not the best simracer !!!
GTAcademy finals should be only be in the game, then the best simracer will be the winner!!!
You guys complaining come across a bit jelous.
On experience, if I remember right previous GT academy winner Lucas Ordonez had driven karts and done Autocrossing for some time before winning GT academy. I’m not sure about the other GT Academy winners.
Personally I think GT Academy is most impressive as a show and most fair to all contestant if people without actual racing experience win. But at the same time this is not to take away from Wolfgang’s achievement. He earnt his place and I wish him all the best.
Jann Mardenborough – a GTPlanet member since 2008 – won last year’s European competition at the age of 19. What real life race experience has he supposedly had, considering he didn’t sit in a race car until after he won the competition?
If Wolfgang has never held a National A licence (or equivalent) or higher, he is eligible for this competition. He had to apply for an MSA National B licence last week and any previous licences would have shown up in the process. Since he’s been playing GT since GT1, I’d say he’s more of a Gran Turismo gamer than many claim to be.
GT Academy isn’t about just GT ability or just racecraft. It’s about a combination of those things AND fitness AND attitude AND personality. A guy who’s fast in the game and on the track, but has the personality of a spoon and a bad attitude won’t win. If an eligible GT player is fast enough in the game to qualify and has the racecraft, fitness, attitude and personality to win, what’s the problem when he wins?
@mef and famine and to all else who do not agree with me…
My gripe isn’t toward Jann and his achievements, I know he hadn’t had much experience beforehand and that’s why in my eyes, Jann is a bit of a legend. I think his results so far are excellent for a total amateur.
This is not about jealousy, this is basically a failed racing driver being given a racing seat.
Good luck to him but if you think there is going to one ounce of admiration for this winner then you are wrong.
I feel some of the other 5 were robbed, end of.
If you can’t see that then you’re blind my friend.
Wolfgang is not a “failed racing driver”. He’s a gamer (since GT1) who’s had some time in race cars at no higher than National B level and given up that hobby due to lack of funding.
You may as well be complaining that a fitness coach won the fitness tests, or that a famous person won the media tests – they still have to pass everything else and be better than the others to win. Wolfgang just happens to have experience of racing cars – he’s passed the driving tests, the gaming tests, the fitness tests, the attitude tests and the personality tests and found to be better than his countrymen, his regional colleagues and the five best representatives from other regions. He’s a gamer turned racing driver, turned gamer-turned-racing-driver.
You might want to read the words of one of the five you think were robbed before you start declaring your vision to be superior and calling an end to procedings: http://www.gtplanet.net/forum/showthread.php?p=7532875#post7532875
Famine you are bound to say that, you’re hardly going to complain about the organisers of GT Academy are you? If anyone needs to steer their opinion a certain way like yourself its not worth commenting. None of the people ‘in the loop’ or representing a popular forum will have the balls to stick their neck out and give a real opinion.
This guy won this competition by using the driving skills acquired from driving a vast range of racing cars and competition karting, not by using the skills acquired by gaming which is the aim of the competition. As for the fitness we’ve already seen how a simple pretend injury can get you off doing all that from last years assault course.
The Nissan people will already know him from his association with the ELMS team anyway.
Anyway I’ve seen enough before all this so I’m just enjoying reading the others comments as they start to realise. :)
@Famine: Jann wasn’t the best driver in my year… he won because of interests! you would have loved to watch the organizing crew (who should stay neutral) supporting him in the control room as i saw! That’s awful for me as a finalist and the others who were with me to watch that unfairness…
besides, they decreased Thibault Lacombe hp… the best driver from the beginning to the end
but -“wait… we already have a french winner … we have made money in Spain and France, we need to make money in UK too”
All winners are from different countries… interesting casualty… lol
Don’t say i’m a frustrated loser because i’m not and a know i wasn’t the best driver there as a mentioned but Jann wasn’t definitely the man.. actually he was a pig driver who bumped me to the grass when i tried to overtake him… however he was slow enough for me to recover and pass him… what a pig lol
davissi – I have no reason to support something that is bent (we’re a third party site – we have no obligation to GT Academy and we can cover the stories as effectively from here as we can from actually being there), but I have no reason to suspect it is bent. You’ve also seen Des Foley’s comments – how do you reconcile your opinion with his? How is this relevant to Wolfgang’s eligibility – which, it seems clear, is not an issue.
From what I’ve seen at one national final and one race camp, no-one who did not deserve to get through to the next stage managed to do so. If you have evidence to suggest otherwise, you’re welcome to submit it for consideration (or you can libel the organisers, as the above commentator managed).
Famine you should just plead ignorance. IT IS A COMPETITION WHERE THE BETTER DRIVER IS AWARDED THE PRIZE. Yes there are other elements but I’m sure someone who has been in motorsport circles will be keeping fit anyway and unless he was some chav who swore constantly on tv then how hard would an interview be? He had a massive advantage and it stinks. Have you seen his videos? Who in their life would get to race in an lmp car?
The essence of the competition is to find a gamer who could be made into a driver. Not an amateur racing driver who has raced in many series.
It stinks a bit and you know it. I’m not sure why you can’t see it.
I’m also surprised that Jann has been described as he has but I wasn’t there so I can’t comment. Though he seems pretty decent for a total amateur. At least he was an amateur, that’s all I can say.
Dan Holland was the best driver at GT Academy 2010. He didn’t even make it to day 2 – and it was perhaps harsh, but the reasons were solid.
Everyone has their strengths. Wolfgang’s strengths are in a real car, but not to the point to make him ineligible for the competition. The rules are clear and his eligibility ought not to be in question. That they are speaks more for the questioners rather than Wolfgang or the organisation of the event.
Please feel free to congratulate the eligible, long-term Gran Turismo gamer who, over three stages of competition (qualification event, BeNeLux final, Race Camp) proved to be, on aggregate, the best all round gamer, driver, athlete and personality who entered, just as the very gracious Des Foley – who competed against him directly – has done.
GTAcademy is bullsh.., it doesnt stay for us SIMRACER !!!!!
i have see this befor my national final, so i didnt want go there!!
wtf is fair if a guy is only simracer and a other guy is simracer & realcar racer ??? nothing
GTAcademy is sucking off with this kind of system !
Famine, have you raced with this wolfgang online? Des Foley may be magnanimous in his defeat and I for one was rooting for him. However, I’m sure he is quietly glad that this has been pointed out. I for one would have kicked up a storm if I had lost out to this real world racer who has probably had more driving experience than one of the judges vitantonio Liuzzi. They even said that the judges nearly kicked off during the last pick, I guarantee they were arguing that this Wolfgang wasn’t a wohy winner in the name of the competition. I made it to the final 32 but no way am I trying again next year when the likes of this goes on.
No, it was me said that the judging was heated – as an excuse to put in the picture of Johnny Herbert and Lucas Ordonez.
Liuzzi’s started 80 grands prix and has raced 4 full seasons of F1, holding a super licence, five full seasons of F3 and has an F3000 title to his name. Reip has not raced 2 full seasons at any level of motorsport and never held any licence above National B – we know this because he’s an eligible participant. He’s been playing GT since GT1 (and how many of us can say that?). He played GT5 sufficiently well to qualify for his national finals and to qualify for the Race Camp, where he showed a sufficient level of fitness, the right attitude, the right personality and an appropriate level of racecraft to beat the best from the other regions.
He was eligible to participate. He did so. He won. Feel free to congratulate him at any point.
Okay, so he played the computer a lot. He also had a vast amount of real racing experience. Which helped him win in the latter stages.
Maybe you are trying to convince yourself thatIu was only his game playing that got him through so that you can carry on living the dream. I won’t congratulate him because he wasn’t a deserved winner in my eyes.
Tell me this. How did he get to drive an lmp car on the Paul ricard circuit?
If his ability was “only his game playing”, he wouldn’t have got through. He had the mix of game playing, racecraft, personality, attitude and fitness required. He had an advantage on racecraft – so what?
He’s a worthy winner. He was eligible to compete and did so. He beat his compatriots, his regional opponents and the best from the other regions.A field of experienced international racers judged him to be a worthy winner. Many other people who didn’t win would also have been worthy winners had they won.
The most important factor was showing ability behind the wheel of a car, not how well he could use a control pad or his interviewing skills, if interview skills were that important, Kimi raikkonen wouldn’t have a job. It was a massive unfair advantage, FACT.
Then please explain how Dan Holland, fastest in the initial 370Z test at GT Academy 2010 (and at GT5, incidentally), failed to get through the first eliminations.
Wolfgang’s advantage was not unfair – he was eligible for the competition. I know some of the national finalists had been to national finals before and had worked really hard on improving their fitness and presentation, knowing that they would be tested on them – were they at an unfair advantage too?
GT Academy values no one thing to the exclusion of the others. I saw good GT5ers and good drivers cut to shreds by a bad fitness test or a bad presentation to the media. Yes, having ability in real cars is important – there’s only so much a race driving coach can teach if the guy has no feel – but these guys have to have the fitness to get through a 24hr race in 5 months’ time and they have to present the face of Nissan for the next few years of their career. Stinky attitudes and poor press interaction – though coaching is given after the event (as is driver coaching and fitness and diet coaching) – won’t meet the grade.
So, we’re still at this impasse where an eligible, long-term GT gamer whose experience does not disqualify him from the entry rules that we all know and that were clearly published, beat his countrymen, his regional colleagues and the 5 remaining best the other regions could offer over 3 rounds of competition through Gran Turismo, fitness, racecraft, attitude and PR awareness is apparently not a “worthy winner” in the eyes of some…
Famine, nothing is going to alter your opinion nor is anything you say going to alter mine or the general opinion on this matter. So we’ll just leave it at that. Carry on by all means, I’ve said what I needed to say and I stick by it.
@Famine Don’t bother with these guys. They just envy Wolfgang Reip’s awesomeness, which make them sore losers because they know they can’t compete in GT Academy, nor they’ll EVER will overall. Not saying any names, just know that they’re humans who’ll envy other humans… >_>
Congratz Wolfgang Reip and everyone else in GT Academy. :D
Toko, yes you are right, I bow down to you with your fantastic theory behind my argument. If only you were in my life to guide me through it.
And they thought Einstein was intelligent, wait till they get a load of this guy, toko.
And I was one of the few to go Silverstone for the GT academy finals. I know I wasn’t good enough, I’m speaking for those who naturally and I emphasise the word, naturally were. Goodnight sleep tight.
Congratulations Wolfgang! Godspeed and all the best on the future!
Congrats wolfy , maybe your our new mozart . and congrats to all those who went as far as wolfgang … you’ll all have another chance next year so keep it your minds as maybe the best experience in your life as far ….
again, Congratulations to Wolfgang Reip , and don’t forget us on GT5 ! :)
Peace
You’re wrong there, competitors of the previous year are not allowed to enter the competition again for (I believe) 1 year. Might even be a ban from the competition forever.
Wolfgang YOU THE BEST !!! Good luck !!! ALL Community !!!
glad to see the Academy over. Good luck in your racing career.
Way to go there big fella. This is only the beginning of big things to come and I for one wish you all the best and to all those that came just this close but didn’t get it, dontngive up the dream boys!!!
Congratulations, Wolfgang. All the best for the future. :tup:
Great effort from all of you and Congrats to you all to get this far – but the biggest congrats has to go to Wolfgang Reip, It’s beautiful bro and so well deserved :) You had the last click of skills, to beat the rest, So my thumbs up for you, and so much respect, because it ain’t easy, and btw disregards the weeping bunch in this thread, they are just jealous hahaha..
PS.Come closer and I will whisper this little secret for your ears only – – – I’m not as good enough to get even near the jealous weeping bunch, but please don’t tell them that OK, Otherwise they will just laugh at me, and make very bad and nasty jokes at me, because they just love to do that in this forum, like calling me ” GT6 is delayed again hahaha ” or ” PS4 wont release before the Christmas holidays in 1914 ” or ” GT6 is for PS4 hahaha ” or “Xbox-720 half price already ” or worst ” Forza company has gone bankrupt ” ya it’s nasty stuff, brrri I’m trembling already and it puts tears in my eyes SNøfT ;( – But The worst joke is ” You will be 67 before GT6 releases hahaha haha ha ” So keep the secret please you hear me Wolfgang.. :o)
congratulations…now PD…get us some new DLC or big Spec 3.0 update thank you :))
Hell yeah…
BUT ACTUALLY THIS EVENT IS HELD BY NISSAN, CHEPEST WAY TO HIRE A MOST TALENTIVE RACER
^ This.
Not too dissimilar from Jack Rouchs “Gong Show” that’s how he got Matt Kenseth and David Ragan.
Check your caps lock next time btw ;-)
Andrea Cosaro is the real winner this year.
Considering he started in 6th and finished the race in 2nd, yes. Then again I’m wondering if he is that good why he didn’t qualify for a better starting position? Too bad, I guess he has missed his chance there. :(
Thank you! Now that this crap is over and done with, PD can now focus on GT6! :D
Congratulations to Wolfgang. Well done..So far thats 5 winners from 5 different countries altogether…Cool…;-))…
I really thought Des Foley was going to Win it! But ah well Congrats to Wolfgang Reip. Wish him the very best.
His surname is funny. Like gang of wolfs :D But of course GZ!!
It’s a rather common surname in Europe, in case you don’t know ;)
Congrats!
Congratulations and enjoy your new life as a pilot!!
Amazing well done Wolfgang.