2012 USA GT Academy champion's thread

BICDRIVER49
In cased anyone missed the announcement.

http://racer.com/imsa/continental-c...cademy-champs-set-for-continental-tire-series
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Congrats! Great series, I have an aqaintence who runs CTS...he has a blast! Great schedule too.

Reading some of your post above about your shoes feeling like they were melting, you may have already thought about this or been told, but you need to get some heel insulators that Velcro around the heel of your driving shoe.

Anyway, ALL the best to ya'! Make some friends out there! 👍
 
I know about them, the GTR has a raised carbon fiber pedal box. its not really the heat on the floor pan. Its actually just the radiant heat! The catalytic converter is right near the area of the pedals so it just makes everything around it hot. :/
 
Hello Steve, it's great to see you here at GTPlanet! So, as the 2012 GTA Winner, does that mean that your one year driver contract with Nissan is over with or are you still "employed" by them in some capacity? I am fascinated how the business of motorsports racing works, and would enjoy hearing more about that aspect of your experience.
 
Good luck this weekend, @BICDRIVER49.

Know yet if you'll be heading to Lime Rock for the next CTSCC event over Memorial Day weekend? Plan on being there with my son (and whoever else feels like coming out), and definitely plan on trying to hunt down the Nissan GTA/SkullCandy stall on the paddock :D
 
kapnk006
Hello Steve, it's great to see you here at GTPlanet! So, as the 2012 GTA Winner, does that mean that your one year driver contract with Nissan is over with or are you still "employed" by them in some capacity? I am fascinated how the business of motorsports racing works, and would enjoy hearing more about that aspect of your experience.
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I wish I could talk more about it. But as with everyone/everything else in the motorsports world, its not a good idea to talk about it! I will be racing full time with Nissan for the remainder of 2014 and 2015 looks promising! That's all I can say for now :)

Severn
Good luck this weekend, @BICDRIVER49.

Know yet if you'll be heading to Lime Rock for the next CTSCC event over Memorial Day weekend? Plan on being there with my son (and whoever else feels like coming out), and definitely plan on trying to hunt down the Nissan GTA/SkullCandy stall on the paddock :D
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I will be at Lime Rock! Myself and Bryan will be running the entire remaining schedule for Grand-am this year! :)
 
BICDRIVER49
I will be racing full time with Nissan for the remainder of 2014 and 2015 looks promising!

I will be at Lime Rock! Myself and Bryan will be running the entire remaining schedule for Grand-am this year! :)
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Awesome! Congrats. :cheers:

I was watching the Laguna Seca race the other day and noticed that it appeared that both you and Kosarov were driving for what seemed like the entire race (the stint time stats showed both of you, as well as a few other drivers, having significantly longer stints than everyone else). Did you actually run the whole thing or was this just a glitch in the matrix?
 
I pitted at about 50 minutes in. Same with the 33 car. Scoring just showed us in the car the whole time. Must have been a problem with the driver ID things or something. IMSA has been having a lot of issues lol.
 
Wish you guys had races in Arizona...we have such a lack of racing out here besides Nascar and stadium trucks. Best of luck in the rest of your season. I know I speak for a lot of us on here when I say we hope to watch you succeed and live the dream we all commonly share around here!
 
Here is some fresh video from Saturday morning at Lime Rock!




Practice was very short this week. Only two 25 minute sessions. With driver changes mid session you don't have much actual track time! I had never run any virtual laps so it was a little harder for me to learn the circuit so quickly! For being such a short track its very fast and actually technical. By the end of the race stint I was feeling pretty good about it though. T5 is really fun!

Qualifying was "rained out." This to me was the biggest joke in the world... It was lightly raining and there was no reason at all for this. They even let us go out for practice! We ended up P4 during the wet session. With no qualifying we had to start 29th!

Had a good start. Tried to pick my battles during the stint to save on tire wear. Our car is the heaviest FWD car so we always have to take care of the front tires. Had a lot of fun battles with guys. Bryan left the pits in 11th position! His run was green all the way. This caused us to start running in fuel conservation mode. He made it up to 8th at one point but we still ended up having to pit unlike the Mazda's. Not only are they 1.3 sec faster for every minute of lap time, have the best tire wear of any car but they also have the best fuel range! (pretty cool huh?) IMSA says they do not have an advantage though....Anyways, we made a second stop which put us back to 15th. Ended up finishing 13th, which I feel is a pretty good result for the weekend!

Next up is Kansas.
 
Bum deal qualifying got rained out. Just kinda along for the ride when you have to start that far back. At least you were able to stay clean and come away w/ 13th. Hope Kansas proves to be a better race for you!

Uh and let's see??? Starting 29th and finishing 13th >> still by far beats sittin at home on the couch lol ...so cherish every op you have behind the wheel regardless 👍
 
Haha, I am for sure enjoying it! That race was an absolute blast. I just meant that IMSA needs to get their act together and level the cars out and let us race! This isn't NASCAR, we can drive in the rain...

This goes beyond our class of cars. Many teams have backed out of TUDOR as well.

Kansas seems to suit our cars a little better. Tight hairpins, 90 degree corners and long straights. This helps out the FWD cars quite a bit. So with a little bit of luck a top 5 might be possible! I think we should realistically be looking at a top 10 :)
 
Yeah, I hear ya, everyone's equipped for the rain...you race in the rain, you should no doubt qualify in the rain. As far as the politics goes, good luck on that. Mazda has a clear advantage there. Maybe w/ some luck they'll open there eyes...

Anyway, ALL the best to you in Kansas! :cheers:
 
This brings up a question for you guys. Are there any specific camera angles you guys prefer or would like to see? Outside the car isn't really possible but anything inside should be fair game. I Leave tomorrow for Kansas, so let me know today if you have any ideas!
 
BICDRIVER49
This brings up a question for you guys. Are there any specific camera angles you guys prefer or would like to see? Outside the car isn't really possible but anything inside should be fair game. I Leave tomorrow for Kansas, so let me know today if you have any ideas!
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Sorry for my ignorance. Im going to the speedway saturday for the races, you are in the 150 min race at 615pm?
 
BICDRIVER49
This brings up a question for you guys. Are there any specific camera angles you guys prefer or would like to see? Outside the car isn't really possible but anything inside should be fair game. I Leave tomorrow for Kansas, so let me know today if you have any ideas!
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As close to what you experience POV in-cockpit as possible...
...I think the angles you have used in videos you have shared with us have been great. 👍 👍
 
BICDRIVER49
That's my race! Come say hi during the grid walk!
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Will do!(if im allowed) i didnt purchase the pit pass option, but i dont know if that includes grid walk or if all general admission gets to.
I go to the nascar every year(hate nascar but going is a blast) but this will be my first time seeing the road course infield being used.
Also excited that the grandstands are not open for this and instead is infield seating for everyone, bringing the camping chairs for hopefully some close up action!
 
Is their still a center mounted rear view mirror in the car or just the side rearview mirrors? If you could get the camera to a point where we keep the same view as you have been using but also include the rear view mirror that would be great. It translates better into the lines you take and why you take them. I see you setting up for passes and sometimes playing it safe...but would love to know what you're dealing with another car on your rear bumper! Thanks. @BICDRIVER49
 
Steve not sure if you have checked but your face is on the GT academy final tip thing. First time being on a game?
 
BICDRIVER49
This brings up a question for you guys. Are there any specific camera angles you guys prefer or would like to see? Outside the car isn't really possible but anything inside should be fair game. I Leave tomorrow for Kansas, so let me know today if you have any ideas!
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I would like a camera angle that shows your feet and hands, it's nice to see what you as a driver are doing with the controls. 👍
Good Luck to you and Bryan! I hope your race is smooth and the podium is your destination. :gtpflag:


EDIT: I just looked on IMSA.com and Y'all qualified 4th in class! 👍 Best of luck tomorrow in the race. I feel a podium finish is coming soon. :cool:
Go #34 Go!! :gtpflag:
 
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BICDRIVER49
Haha, I am for sure enjoying it! That race was an absolute blast. I just meant that IMSA needs to get their act together and level the cars out and let us race! This isn't NASCAR, we can drive in the rain...

This goes beyond our class of cars. Many teams have backed out of TUDOR as well.

Kansas seems to suit our cars a little better. Tight hairpins, 90 degree corners and long straights. This helps out the FWD cars quite a bit. So with a little bit of luck a top 5 might be possible! I think we should realistically be looking at a top 10 :)
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I just finished following the race on IMSA.com. Great job Steve and Bryan!

There were 30 cars in the ST class. Congrats on finishing 7th in class! :cheers:
Y'all are making us proud! :gtpflag:
 
Had to head home before your race was over as the 4 yr old was done, we had been there since 1pm.
Was great to meet you and bryan, you guys are living my dream! Great racing
 
AzDesertRacer
Is their still a center mounted rear view mirror in the car or just the side rearview mirrors? If you could get the camera to a point where we keep the same view as you have been using but also include the rear view mirror that would be great. It translates better into the lines you take and why you take them. I see you setting up for passes and sometimes playing it safe...but would love to know what you're dealing with another car on your rear bumper! Thanks. @BICDRIVER49
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We have a somewhat of a large mirror mounted on the roll cage JUST next to where this camera is mounted. There isn't really anywhere else close to mount the camera in the car for that type of view :( I could put it back on the center of the cage but then the windshield bar blocks half the vision of the camera.

mustafur
Steve not sure if you have checked but your face is on the GT academy final tip thing. First time being on a game?
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Saw that! First time! I was very happy to see that. :)

Thanks for following the races guys! Nice to meet a few more gamers at the track as well! I will try to get some hand and foot angles in the future!

Here is the full onboard from Kansas! its over an hour and there are some long periods that I was quite lonely on track. Hope you guys enjoy it. If you're getting bored just skip until you see some traffic! lol. There was a Civic behind me for the majority of my stint. It was quite challenging trying to hold him off while trying to save tires and brakes! That civic was the car that went on to win the race!

 

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