Do you think GT Academy is fixed?

[Rich S]

"Fitness" is very individualized for each sport. What it takes to be a great runner is going to be very very different to being a great open wheel race car driver. I bet a top race driver can probably leg press a lot more weight than Haile Gebrselassie or Wilson Kipsang (the fastest marathon men in the entire world) but all those runners use is their legs....the race car drivers sit in a car yet I bet they can push more weight.... In fact I bet an "out of shape" driver like Tony Stewart is probably physically able to generate more force than a top 1,500 meter runner even.

What makes for all round "fitness" doesn't have anything to do with your sport. For example, I'm wanting to be a good cyclist. If a trained my "all round" fitness by doing obstacle courses, weights, shot put, playing golf, etc, etc. The answer is I'd be an awful cyclist and my performance would be way below my personal bests.

 

[Ridox2JZGTE]

What about female drivers ? Will they ever win a GT Academy ? or is it impossible to happen ? Conspiracy ?

 

[et_]

Spend 18 laps (race distance) in a GP3 simulator - see if you get it then.

Does 55 laps (1h, 20min total) in a high grade racing gokart at full attack count? If so I still dont get it.

 

[ParkerMO125]

What about female drivers ? Will they ever win a GT Academy ? or is it impossible to happen ? Conspiracy ?

There actually was a female who was offered the invite to new york for this years north America finals but was either declined or never responded I can't remember...I was told this by official source at nationals...would have been cool indeed to have a female contestant.

 

[Famine]

Does 55 laps (1h, 20min total) in a high grade racing gokart at full attack count? If so I still dont get it.

Not even close.

What about female drivers ? Will they ever win a GT Academy ? or is it impossible to happen ? Conspiracy ?

There actually was a female who was offered the invite to new york for this years north America finals but was either declined or never responded I can't remember...I was told this by official source at nationals...would have been cool indeed to have a female contestant.

There has only been one female that I'm aware of making it to national finals, and that's @Hollow - a GTPlanet member

 

[Saidur_Ali]

Any link / picture / video of that GP3 simulator?

 

[et_]

Not even close.

Fair enough, but you got to admit, Driving a racecar requires less physical strength than... football (soccer) or ice hockey?
If not, try playing football for 2x45min or ice hockey for 3x20min

There has only been one female that I'm aware of making it to national finals, and that's @Hollow - a GTPlanet member

Faiza Al Kindi?

 

[Falango]

Fair enough, but you got to admit, Driving a racecar requires less physical strength than... football (soccer) or ice hockey?
If not, try playing football for 2x45min or ice hockey for 3x20min

Strength is just one aspect of fitness, and you don't necessarily need strength for every spot, including racing. Being fit doesn't always mean being superhuman strong. Not all hockey players are as strong as one another, same for football. For racing, it's more about training your muscles to endure the constant forces, so that your mind doesn't have to think about the way your body is handling those forces, and can focus on other things.

 

[et_]

Racing will require some strength, and alot of stamina, but still not as much as most other sports.

And one other thing: if you think racing a car is tough, try racing a bike (motorcycle).

 

[Morphisor]

Racing will require some strength, and alot of stamina, but still not as much as most other sports.

And one other thing: if you think racing a car is tough, try racing a bike (motorcycle).

http://www.formula1.com/inside_f1/understanding_f1_racing/5298.html

and




Of course, this is about the highest level. But the same principles apply to all race cars. In fact, in GT racing the heat is an even bigger factor, with cockpit temperatures reaching over 70 degrees celcius...

 

[Famine]

Fair enough, but you got to admit, Driving a racecar requires less physical strength than... football (soccer) or ice hockey?

Nope.

If not, try playing football for 2x45min or ice hockey for 3x20min

I used to play rugby, field hockey and badminton. Even at my highest level of fitness I wouldn't have been able to drive a GP3 car for a full race distance.

Pressing the brake pedal on a GP3 car requires approximately the same amount of force as lifting 120kg with your left leg - or essentially 1.5 times my bodyweight with one leg. And you need to modulate that as well so you don't lock up. And that's every corner.

Faiza Al Kindi?

Yep.

 

[GTP_Ingram]

In addition to what Famine has said, you also have to bear in mind on top of the leg strength and crazy-high levels of fitness needed, all of this must be achieved whilst being built skinniner than a rake. It's easy to be strong or fit, but to be both whilst being - in the case of several F1 drivers I've met - thin to the point of looking ill is a huge challenge.

You also need to consideer that no other sport outside of motor racing requires such a high level of focus for such a sustained period of time. Other sports allow you to relax, for example, at half-time or even between points. To allow yourself to focus so highly for that time, you need to be as fit as humanly possible.

 

[TRC Scooty]

Chess is a sport as well, I don't think being fit is an important part in that sport.
In the same way, Physical shape is not as important in racing as it is in something like running sports.
In racing, you need to be in good physical form, but you don't really need that extreme level of fitness.

Chess is a game, not a sport. As for extreme levels of fitness, GTA isn't asking for that. If you can hold a plank for a few minutes, do 30 or so pushups and make a decent showing on the bleep test you're doing fine. That's not really asking for much. You don't have to be like Jett and get well into level 14.

 

[Dhalism]

i agree that it is "fixed" to a certain extent but it is fixed in the way almost opposite to what OP suggest.
Both racing ability and physical fitness are two very tangible things and should not require at all any presence of judges. The winner should be the winner.

Unfortunately GTA clearly pursues some ulterior motives(i assume whatever they consider to be marketability) and that is seen all to well in their treatment of people such as Gomes and Heitkotter.

 

[et_]

The FIA's chief medical delegate, Doctor Ian Roberts, recently said that a huge amount of physical strength is not needed to drive a F1 car. What you need is stamina. Thats why these should be no problem for Susie Wolff to be competitive in a F1 car. In hockenheim FP2 she did over 20 laps straight with no sign of slowing down, and she was just 0.2 sec behind the leader.

Nico Rosberg is very fit indeed, so is Alonso and Button, but those 3 are probably the most fit persons on that grid. Look at Lewis Hamilton, he is far less fit than both Rosberg and Button, his teammates in recent years, whom he usually is faster than. also, we have Felipe Massa, Sebastian Vettel, Kamui Kobayashi, Sergio Perez, Max Chilton, and even Marcus Ericsson. All of wich is in good physical shape, but not that extreme.

@TRC Scooty : Chess is a sport, so is extreme ironing, look it up

 

[Xiamoto]

..............all the drivers seem to be around the same kind of build, shape and size. .............k.

I think part of the selection criteria that is being used in GT Academy is based on the marketability of a person by PD and potential sponsors in the future. Just like other product and services advertising, cultures tend to favor, not coincidentally............ fit, slender, attractive body types, you know...... the "beautiful people". Have you seen many F1 drivers the last few years that don't fit that demographic?

 

[fizzer]

Based on my GTA experience, I think its clear that the selections are made via committee, and that 3 distinct organizations are making the decisions. As they should be since they're the ones paying the bill

1. Sony/PD - The video game side wants to sell Playstations and game titles. Their priority is to show that good players will become good racers, so they value the strong players with a good potential to excel in real cars.

2. Nissan/NISMO - Their biggest priority is finding the best drivers in the real car, followed by good personalities that will be able to be spokespeople. They want to sell cars, plain and simple. Win on Sunday, sell on Monday as they used to say in the biz.

3. TV Network (varies by country) - They want entertainment, so they're looking for standout personalities and drama. Skill is secondary to them. They want to sell advertising on a show with good viewership.

I imagine representatives from each will discuss and negotiate for their favorite picks throughout the competition. I think keeping this structure in mind makes it pretty clear how selection works throughout the competition. Again, since they're all paying the (rather large) bills for this groundbreaking program, I'd say its quite fair how everything is run.

 

[hillracing]

Based on my GTA experience, I think its clear that the selections are made via committee, and that 3 distinct organizations are making the decisions. As they should be since they're the ones paying the bill

1. Sony/PD - The video game side wants to sell Playstations and game titles. Their priority is to show that good players will become good racers, so they value the strong players with a good potential to excel in real cars.

2. Nissan/NISMO - Their biggest priority is finding the best drivers in the real car, followed by good personalities that will be able to be spokespeople. They want to sell cars, plain and simple. Win on Sunday, sell on Monday as they used to say in the biz.

3. TV Network (varies by country) - They want entertainment, so they're looking for standout personalities and drama. Skill is secondary to them. They want to sell advertising on a show with good viewership.

I imagine representatives from each will discuss and negotiate for their favorite picks throughout the competition. I think keeping this structure in mind makes it pretty clear how selection works throughout the competition. Again, since they're all paying the (rather large) bills for this groundbreaking program, I'd say its quite fair how everything is run.

I think there's an element of the competition being "fixed" but it's hard to say exactly to what degree. I found it interesting that on the final day they said there would be a final challenge after the final race. When Nick won the race all of a sudden there wasn't another challenge. I do believe when they got the winner they wanted they decided not to have another challenge. There's other things I saw through out the week that make me think it's slightly fixed. I don't want to go into detail publicly as I have no proof of anything and don't want to come across as a sore looser. The fact that you never see your scores for the challenges makes it hard to know if they are actually going by how you did or by something else. I'm not in any way trying to lessen what those who won have achieved or to take anything away from them. I think Nick was the right choice and is doing a great job for Nissan and Playstation. That being said I do wish it was more transparent and less of a reality show and of course I wish I had won.

 

[samurai8juice]

Chess is a game, not a sport.

sport
sport/noun
noun: sport; plural noun: sports

1. 1.
   an activity involving physical exertion and skill in which an individual or team competes against another or others for entertainment

I think chess is a sport.

 

[Rhykus Finlay]

How did this derail into chess? O.o

 

[TRC Scooty]

I think chess is a sport.

Chess doesn't involve physical exertion, don't cherry pick the parts of a definition that fit your needs. That's the difference between a sport and a game. Both require skill, one requires skill AND physical exertion. That leaves motorsport in a big grey area considering stuff like karting is quite physically taxing, while autocross isn't the least bit taxing.

 

[The Stig Farmer]

A "sport" is when a "game" becomes a professional, standardised, competitive activity.

 

[Bo]

The FIA's chief medical delegate, Doctor Ian Roberts, recently said that a huge amount of physical strength is not needed to drive a F1 car. What you need is stamina. Thats why these should be no problem for Susie Wolff to be competitive in a F1 car.

Is this sexism or something? Why should a hugely talented and experienced driver not be able to... drive well?

 

[et_]

Is this sexism or something? Why should a hugely talented and experienced driver not be able to... drive well?

It is not sexism. He said so because people where questioning her ability to drive a F1 car, becase it is imposible for her to have the same strenght as her male competitors. He just denied that there should be an issue for her, because she had the stamina required. That is all that is needed.

 

[Famine]

That and the 1500N needed to push the brake pedal each time.

 

[Bo]

It is not sexism. He said so because people where questioning her ability to drive a F1 car, becase it is imposible for her to have the same strenght as her male competitors. He just denied that there should be an issue for her, because she had the stamina required. That is all that is needed.

No it isn't. If you could show me how over 100kg of constant brake force isn't strong, please do.

 

[et_]

A "sport" is when a "game" becomes a professional, standardised, competitive activity.

This is pretty much the correct analysis of the definition.

No it isn't. If you could show me how over 100kg of constant brake force isn't strong, please do.

Well, I weigh in at 70 kg, and I have no problem doing squats with another 70 kg on my back, even with one leg I can go down to about 90 degrees.

 

[Bo]

Well, I weigh in at 70 kg, and I have no problem doing squats with another 70 kg on my back, even with one leg I can go down to about 90 degrees.

Great, now do that in a really horrible position.

 

[et_]

@Famine : you do realize F1 got brake and steering servo right? its physically easier to drive a a F1 car than a GP2 or GP3 car.

 

[Bo]

@Famine : you do realize F1 got brake and steering servo right? its physically easier to drive a a F1 car than a GP2 or GP3 car.

Not when you look at the extra G forces applied to your neck. Considering LMP1 cars require you to hold your breath every corner, otherwise your ribcage would collapse.