It’s been both the best of times and worst of times for Gran Turismo fans in 2009. It started out in what many believed would be the year of Gran Turismo 5, but actually turned out to be the year of another title almost nobody was expecting: Gran Turismo PSP! Regardless, we’ve learned a lot about GT5 – from WRC, to NASCAR, to our first look at damage and rumors of a track editor, it’s been a pretty good year. Now, as we look forward to GT5’s Japanese release in March, here’s a look back at 2009, along with all the links in case you missed something along the way…

If you’re a regular in the forums, you probably know about GTPlanet’s Weekly Race Series – our most popular and longest-running online competition. Thanks to help from JoostBaksteen, the WRS has a new, automated Leaderboard system which makes keeping track of your progress easier than ever before! Here’s how to get started:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fFZZ0Fjtb94

Kazunori Yamauchi added yet another event to his motorsport resume earlier this month when he competed in the 25 Hours of Thunder Hill in California. Yamauchi drove an N-spec Honda Civic for Spoon Sports along with several experienced teammates including Tatsuru Ichishima, Naoki Hattori, and journalist Sam Mitani. The all managed a clean drive, but their performance was unfortunately hampered by penalties for improper fueling and (interestingly) a too-loud exhaust. Nevertheless, it was a great experience for Yamauchi-san who is learning much from all this track time:

Before the Gran Turismo 5 Time Trial Demo was released to the public, it was open to a few members of the press and special VIPs involved with the GT series. While their hot laps and replays were taken offline when the leader boards were reset, they live on thanks to more videos via TaxiGamer. Below you’ll find clips of Kazunori Yamauchi and the first GT Academy winner, Lucas Ordonez. Six-time WRC champion Sebastian Loeb was also spotted in the rankings, though I can’t find any video footage of his lap at the moment. If you have it, please share the link below!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kfeYSAmlUvg

The Gran Turismo 5 Time Trial demo has just become available for download in the Japanese PSN Store, and it should start popping up in your region soon. Of course, anyone can create a Japanese account (video instructions available here) and the demo’s in English, so first impressions are already starting to roll in around our forums. Head over to our dedicated GT5 Time Trial Demo message board to share your own opinions and see what others have to say about it! The demo file itself weighs in at around 201 MB, so you shouldn’t have to wait too long if you’ve got a slower ‘net connection.

Our friends at TaxiGamer, who are obsessed with high-quality video game footage, have shared some excellent new stuff from the Gran Turismo 5 Demo, including real game play footage, a replay, and a walk through the menu. Keep reading to see all the clips, and visit their site to download the original files in all their glory.

A writer with the Globe and Mail, Chad Sapieha, got the opportunity to try out the Gran Turismo 5 demo (the one that’s been shown off at shows, not the one we’re getting next Thursday), and he’s shared a fascinating conversation he had with a “Polyphony Digital delegate”:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NGNeHlfJU6I

During a Sony press event last week, SCEA Producer Chris Hinojosa was throwing around a “summer 2010” release date for Gran Turismo 5 (presumably for the North American market). The news comes from Destructoid, who had listened carefully during his presentation about the game. While this does open up the release window, an early summer date (some time in May, perhaps?) has been the most reasonable assumption for us to make since the game was announced for March in Japan, so this isn’t anything to get too upset about.

If you missed out on the free Gran Turismo PSP promotion when the PSP Go was released earlier this year, you’ve got another shot. Sony is once again making the game available to download at no cost to all PSP Go owners…as long as you’re not in North America. Much like GT Academy 2010, this promotion is only available to people outside of the United States and Canada. You can read the official rules here and, if you’re eligible, follow these instructions to get your copy of the game. It will be free through January 10, 2010, so don’t worry if you plan to receive a PSP Go on December 25th – just make sure that you tell Santa Claus about this so he can buy you something else with all that money he’ll be saving! Thanks to Marky264 for the tip.

If you’ve spent any time in our forums, you’re probably aware of our vibrant community of talented photographers with a knack for shooting all things automotive. Today, we’re proud to showcase their very best work in the first-annual GTPlanet Automotive Calendar – a compendium of beautiful images of exotic cars and motor sport events from all over the world. It’s the best of the best from our community, and you can order it for yourself right here. Each photographer has graciously donated their photographs, ensuring that 100% of proceeds from the calendar go towards the Alzheimer’s Association, as we carry on our proud tradition of supporting the organization each year during the Christmas season.

Other than my article on Gran Turismo 5’s mysterious head-tracking feature, it hasn’t managed to get much press (though, admittedly, it’s only been mentioned once). However, it’s back in the spotlight once again after a Kotaku editor tried a GT5 demo with a Sony representative. Although the demo did not include head-tracking itself, the Sony rep tried to describe how its implemented as best he could:

When Lucas Ordonez won the first GT Academy, we all knew he had a lot of expectations riding on his shoulders. He would be given the opportunity to enter a 24 hour endurance race with world-class drivers and sim racers everywhere watched closely as he lived the dream. Since then, we’ve seen him win races and fight for the FIA GT4 driver’s championship around the world. He made it look all too easy, but as this latest interview shows, his accomplishments are the result of a lot of determination and hard work.

In what appears to be the exceedingly awesome Studie store in Japan, you can get behind the “wheel” of a classic BMW E30 M3 and play Gran Turismo 4. The store, which looks to be a specialist in all things Bavarian, has fitted a Logitech Driving Force Pro (yes, it’s begging for a G25) in front of the drivers seat and mounted a Sony Bravia flat-screen right onto the hood. While I admit that it does feel a bit superfluous to see such a revered race car converted into a gaming rig, it’s bringing a lot more fun and enjoyment to people than if it was sitting there locked up – even if it doesn’t move like that Audi TT at GamesCom. Check out all the pictures of the store at Gawa, and thanks to “Enzo” for sending this in!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pmx9QITCfyY

As I read through the comments here and in our forum, there seems to be a surprising amount of confusion regarding the details and some of the specific points regarding the Gran Turismo 5 demo announced yesterday. I’ll try to condense things down into a few key bullet points to make sure that we’re all on the same page, while summarizing the details of how it’s all going to go down…

Announced just hours ago on the PlayStation EU Blog, GT Academy 2010 will be held in a brand new demo of Gran Turismo 5 hitting the PlayStation Store on December 17, 2009. The demo will feature a stock and tuned version of the Nissan 370Z, and, while Sony has decided not to release the track just yet, I have been aware of the competition for some time now and GTPlanet can reveal the demo will include either Spa Francorchamps or the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. However, Sony described the track as a “specially created section of a new Gran Turismo 5 circuit”, which suggests to me it’s the Indianapolis GP Circuit, as it is quite literally a “section” of a larger circuit. (Let’s not forget it was also the big track prominently shown in Gran Turismo 5’s E3 2009 trailer.)

GTPlanet Twitter follower jef722 sent me a link to a recent article posted by EDGE Online, and I found its perspective and approach incredibly refreshing. EDGE argues that Yamauchi’s creation is much more than just a racing game – it’s a classic Japanese RPG, played out in hundreds or even thousands of races: