Do you think GT Academy is fixed?

  • Thread starter Thread starter Voodoovaj
  • 224 comments
  • 18,336 views

Is GT Academy fixed to favour real drivers over real players

  • I believe it is fixed

    Votes: 38 22.0%
  • I believe it is fair

    Votes: 135 78.0%

  • Total voters
    173
I even got pole position in the semifinal race, but finished 3rd in the final race unfortunately (everyone that has followed GT Academy knows that if you win the final race you are the overall winner (if we look back at previous years)).
It's not necessarily the case, but it has always turned out like that yes. In your year they spent 2 hours trying to decide whether it was Miguel or Adam and while that was all going on I was pretty sure that you'd done enough to win it. I lost a bet on that one :lol:

Darren Cox actually explained to us why it's not a winner-takes-all - so while winning the final race certainly does you no harm, it's not going to be a guarantee :D
 
For all the gamers out there working hard for a spot to the race camp, it is possible to go far even if you don't have racing experience. Last year when I was going to the race camp I went to the nearest go cart club three times doing 8 minutes session and that was basically all real life training for me.

My car at home has 82 hp (Volvo 142 from 1972) so I had never been driving faster than 140 kph/90 mph.

On the physic side I made it to level 9 in the beep test, actually dropping out first of us seven regions winners.

In first benchmark I got 1:13.1 and in second 1:09.1, improved by 4 seconds, from slowest to fastest out of all groups! :)

I even got pole position in the semifinal race, but finished 3rd in the final race unfortunately (everyone that has followed GT Academy knows that if you win the final race you are the overall winner (if we look back at previous years)).

It was a great experience though! :)

Wow darn, you never have any track experience and all you have is GT simulation experience. With that background and you going out there running a quite fast lap with a significant improvement to be the fastest, you have proved something here--you have excellent driving talent! This is quite amazing.

How do feel driving a real car vs. that same car in Gran Turismo? How much does playing GT actually help you in real race?
 
Drivers in the factory teams are paid to drive for them and the field is made up of 90% factory teams so if you're good enough as a privateer then you'll get in. Just like Matt Neal did. But, he did well in his first season and then got offered a drive and has been paid ever since. There are also bonuses for privateers, like a race win reward and other rewards for championship finishes. I know this because someone I went to school with races in the Clio Cup an he is paid for driving with KX Racing, he's in the number 4 car. It's not that much as it's a support race group but £45k a year still isn't bad and he's been nowhere near GT Academy and can afford to drive around in a Mercedes C Class AMG. I digress. My point is that you don't need a silly competition on a game to be a racing driver. You can just do it if you really want to.

The GT Academy is about GT3 racing and some open wheelers as well as LMP2's. They can't have bulky drivers over 6 feet tall in those kinds of cars because they simply won't fit, hence why I believe they are chosen from the crop. I personally can't see where there'd be much of a difference between the finalists ability wise so they can pick and choose as they please, picking the more suited drivers to race for Nismo.
Im not sure your talking about BTCC?

BTCC has only 2 Factory teams with about 5 teams Total able to pay drivers.

Matt Neal has been racing for his dads team since basically day 1, same thing with Andrew Jordan.

Racing is an Extremely expensive sport and most drivers will be spending hundreads of thousands if not millions before even given the oppurtunity to get payed to drive, its why sponsership is soo crucial.
 
But much worse on the second benchmark - by not improving as much as their less experienced competitor.

That's just it though. This year's winner Gaetan has a lot of previous experience, and was NOT the fastest driver at all. Yet he still got chosen. I think that is rather curious.
 
That's just it though. This year's winner Gaetan has a lot of previous experience, and was NOT the fastest driver at all. Yet he still got chosen. I think that is rather curious.
Not really. They're not after the fastest driver...
Had they picked someone better at driving than Jann in 2011 (and Jann wasn't necessarily the fastest there) but without the attitude to push themselves, we wouldn't have a GP3 driving GTA graduate on his way to F1.
 
Wellllll i can weigh in on this. I made it to the National Finals this year. After having my background checked and approved they then found out i hold the lowest Regional racing licence. Regional B. Anyways they told my that because i have raced in the Formula 1200 series for 3 years (never out side of canada) i had enough experience to get a national A licence. if i possessed this licence it would have made me ineligible.

Its actually proven that Brian H had a higher licence then me to race national autocross. So what do you think of that
 
Not really. They're not after the fastest driver...

I know that there is more, but I also know (from being at the national finals myself) that the guys who went to race camp were ALL intensely motivated to succeed, some of them had prepared the whole year for it. I really do not see how there could be large differences in that regard.
 
But much worse on the second benchmark - by not improving as much as their less experienced competitor.

I understand this type of criteria to determine the winner but I have a sense that they weigh this too heavily vs. pure speed. I consider myself a fast driver, perhaps not the fastest. I had minimal experience going into race camp - arrive and drive karting and a few driving day experiences. Going into the final day of driving I struggled in the rain because I couldn't heel toe. I know Miguel could, as could the Belgian guy. I was losing a lot of time trying to tame the rear end on downshifts, Miguel was making mistakes elsewhere so I think I was the faster than him on the day. But because I was the fastest driver out of the whole race camp on day 1, and then didn't "improve" in my times going into the slippery conditions on the final day, would it have been better for me to have driven slower on the first day? I believe I had good pace at the start and end of the competition - give me enough laps to have a go at heel toe on a track via tuition and see how fast I get. They're my thoughts.

Anyway congrats to Gaetan. Any one who didn't make it I'm sure you had as much fun as I did. :)
 
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Wow darn, you never have any track experience and all you have is GT simulation experience. With that background and you going out there running a quite fast lap with a significant improvement to be the fastest, you have proved something here--you have excellent driving talent! This is quite amazing.

How do feel driving a real car vs. that same car in Gran Turismo? How much does playing GT actually help you in real race?

Well in gran turismo I can easily do 300 kph on the nurburgring with one hand, first day driving the 370z I was scared having the foot planted on the floor passing 140 kph, and the car was still accelerating! :O Nothing like my Volvo..

In gran turismo I'm not so smooth with the steering wheel so I had to adapt there a bit. But also as Adam says, downshifting and not familiar to what heel and toe is, will lock up the rear badly. Another difference is that you can't downshift in a corner because then you will get a slide.

What gran turismo has learnt me mostly is the driving line and braking points, but also reflexes as the car in gran turismo can suddenly loose traction (like on curbs) and you have to catch it. Look at this save I made in the qualifying, this is pure gran turismo skills kicking in, I didn't think much, my hands did all the job automatically ;) Edit: @6:30 in the video.
In real life you also feel the g forces on your body which makes it easier of course.
 
would it have been better for me to have driven slower on the first day?
Maybe :D

But then you run the risk of being eliminated for not being fast enough. Swings and roundabouts :lol:
 
To those saying it's curious that people with previous driving experience often win/do the best, how is that any surprise? For the most part you need at least SOME time in car to translate what you've learned in game to real world performance. Even some of the lesser experienced folks have done VERY well. Chris for 2011 GTA had one track day I think and got 3rd overall. I had 5 autocrosses in my Miata, no track time and immediately threw down fast laps in the 370. Karts/single seater and GT-R were a little out of my element though. Regardless, a little previous experience mixed with the coaching throughout the week was a enough to have immediate speed and a base to build upon.

Its actually proven that Brian H had a higher licence then me to race national autocross. So what do you think of that

What? I'm going to the SCCA Solo National Championship this year and it requires nothing more than an SCCA membership and signing up, there's no speial license for autocrossing at ANY level.
 
I understand this type of criteria to determine the winner but I have a sense that they weigh this too heavily vs. pure speed. I consider myself a fast driver, perhaps not the fastest. I had minimal experience going into race camp - arrive and drive karting and a few driving day experiences. Going into the final day of driving I struggled in the rain because I couldn't heel toe. I know Miguel could, as could the Belgian guy. I was losing a lot of time trying to tame the rear end on downshifts, Miguel was making mistakes elsewhere so I think I was the faster than him on the day. But because I was the fastest driver out of the whole race camp on day 1, and then didn't "improve" in my times going into the slippery conditions on the final day, would it have been better for me to have driven slower on the first day? I believe I had good pace at the start and end of the competition - give me enough laps to have a go at heel toe on a track via tuition and see how fast I get. They're my thoughts.

At least you got the chance on the final day though, and they can't really not give the victory to the guy who won the final race.
For me it was very disappointing, I had a bad start and made a lot of mistakes on the first couple of days. However from the telemetry test I was back to where I thought I should be, I set a time faster than the instructor. I then maintained my high level until the day where they chose the one of us to go through to the final day. I was in shock when they said I hadn't been chosen. So for that, I am very jealous that you got the chance, and it's a shame you didn't win it for us.
At the end of the day though they're looking for the guy who will be a great marketing tool for the company as well as someone that's quick.
 
It's not fixed, they take your physical condition into account. thats all. However it could be argued how much weight they should put on the Physical part contra the driving part. In recent years they have started to emphasize the physical part more, maybe even more than the driving, which is wrong imo.
 
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It's not fixed, they take your physical condition into account. thats all. However it could be argued how much weight they should put on the Physical part contra the driving part. In recent years they have started to emphasize the physical part more, maybe even more than the driving, which is wrong imo.
They definitely haven't emphasised the physical part too much! You need to be fit to be a racing driver but they told us that if we didn't have the fitness then it wasn't too crucial as you can always train someone to become fitter. You can't teach someone how to drive fast though.
 
They definitely haven't emphasised the physical part too much! You need to be fit to be a racing driver but they told us that if we didn't have the fitness then it wasn't too crucial as you can always train someone to become fitter. You can't teach someone how to drive fast though.
I think that is what OP is getting at...
 
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I think that is what OP is getting at...
The guys who are most determined and driven to win will naturally be motivated to do fitness as well, so it's only likely that the best drivers will also be some of the fittest. I'm pretty sure that the some of the winners haven't been the fittest in the competition, but they've at least shown they've put the effort in. I think they want to see people that have great determination.
 
The guys who are most determined and driven to win will naturally be motivated to do fitness as well, so it's only likely that the best drivers will also be some of the fittest. I'm pretty sure that the some of the winners haven't been the fittest in the competition, but they've at least shown they've put the effort in. I think they want to see people that have great determination.
That would put off the guy with immense talent, but poor determination. In the end that would mean that the ones that win is not the most talented drivers, it's the ones that want it the most.
But as it has been said before, You really need the whole package, not just raw talent.:)
 
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To be successful at a sport, you probably have to be in good shape, correct? How many people here would consider racing a sport? I sure would, because like most sports, you need to be prepared physically, mentally, and psychologically. Each part is very important, and if you're missing one of them, you won't be one to get to the top. People are making the complaint about the drivers they see in GTA being very fit. Go look at the grid for the world's top racing series, and you might see a resemblance. The part of you that drives you to get in shape, stay in shape, that part is also making you very strong psychologically, through determination, drive, and that 'never say die' attitude.
 
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.
 
What does Tony Stewart have to do with GT Academy? :confused:

Apparently his name being in the news lately means he must be mentioned here?

I believe they're referring to his, erm... notable physical condition as a professional racing driver.

He's hardly Mr. Universe.

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On the topic at hand, yes, of course it's fixed everyone loves a conspiracy
 
Don't underestimate driver skill/pace based on physical appearance alone, sometimes even old man / ojisan like Gansan ( Motoharu Kurosawa ) - a retired racing driver turn to auto journalist can give a lesson or two to the younger generation :D

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