GT Academy National Finals - Venues, Dates, Drivers & Discussion Thread

  • Thread starter Sphinx
  • 1,013 comments
  • 100,568 views
Looks like the Nordschleife to me, 45 minutes in the schedule for a six-lap race - surely Nissan aren't looking for someone who can do 7.5-minute laps of the Nürburgring GP circuit.
 
zabeu
Looks like the Nordschleife to me, 45 minutes in the schedule for a six-lap race - surely Nissan aren't looking for someone who can do 7.5-minute laps of the Nürburgring GP circuit.
Click to expand...

I hope you are right 👍

And surely that would be a little too much.. :lol:
 
I guess it is the GP circuit, because they've allocated 30mins for 2lap races on other circuits in the previous rounds?

I can't wait to see our race format and layout...looking at those above, whilst I despise the word it looks - EPIC !
 
its strange that the molds in NZ and DE/AT are so different... will we have the full game there to pick any tracks!?!.. hum...
 
My guess would be that the tracks are the same, but the laps can be changed. Surely this would be the easiest way for them. Specially made demo, with no "new" (unforeseen) tracks.. so it's no harm to give it to the finalists.. :D (just my hope, btw) ;)

we we'll know tomorrow a lot more :cheers:
 
another thing i've noticed there... the P1 in QT has the "easiest" battles round by round... and he can take 1st spot also on the grid on the final round...

i really hope this isnt like prologue sometimes... when the 1st corner is a mess... we need a good judge on the finals
 
Should be interesting to see if the massive slip stream is still in affect, especially at tracks like Fuji :ill:
 
timeattack07gt
Should be interesting to see if the massive slip stream is still in affect, especially at tracks like Fuji :ill:
Click to expand...

I have a bad feeling they think it's normal. We've complained a lot, but they didn't changed on spec II or spec III of Prologue.

Unrealistic slip stream, as it is now, it will make the the good drivers keep up with the great drivers.

What i mean is, everybody is withim a second of each other, the slip stream effect will keep everybody close, in an artificial way.

Unless, of course, they completely changed this aspect and now people can run 1.0 second ahead without having the unrealistic draft in effect.
 
It'll be mayhem.

At least on the original GT Academy Nationals, they used Prologue and everyone already had it!

Placing these cars, for the first time on tracks new to the physics will be mind boggling. I expect the draft will be the least of your worries if you're ahead of someone - more like guessing braking zones and turn in points!
 
Just back on the "is it the GP circuit or Nordschleife", I noticed it is scheduled as a grid start which made me think GP circuit.
 
I wonder if these rolling start races will be proper rolling start, no those ones like in GT5P. By the time 5th place passes the line for start they will be waaaay behind.
 
The New Zealand GT Academy winner for 2010 is: TIZZLA !
well done that man. 👍 👍 big congratulations.

The schedule went as I posted earlier with the tracks being Indy (TT version), Tokyo 246, and Fuji (the chicane version) for the opening round.
I can only really comment on the races I was in as nobody got a chance to see the other races, even the final. kinda sad, but the apartment they used at the track were not exactly capacious.
We got 1 lap of practise for each race, then straight into each race of 3 laps in length. Very difficult at the best of times, to get the feel of a new setup and a look at a new track all in one lap, but it was the same for everyone, so hard to complain.
So first group, first race (Indy F1), i was on pole, being #1 qualifier, I kept the position until turn 3 when a couple of cars slid up the inside of me. The second car pushed me wide and I hit the grass, and that was race over for me. The physics are TT style which mean NO traction on grass, so I lost 30 seconds getting back on track. I managed to pull a few seconds back in the 2.5 laps left but stayed 25s behind and last.
Race 2 Tokyo 246 - Not such a good start as i was back in 4th on the grid, stayed on the tail of the group until I spun. Got a pretty quick recovery, and took 3rd after an opponent spun, but then gave 3rd back as i spun again :grumpy: Another last place and ZERO points.
Race 3 - Fuji. the first race in the standard 370Z. Started from 4th, braked well and got to 2nd at turn one. Made 1st position by T4, and felt comfortable putting down some pretty good pace, staying out of trouble.
Held the lead most of the way, bar a slip pass on the straight, which I took back at T1. Drove nice and tight the rest of the way until the final corner on lap three where I turned again, and got turned around by the car following me. He went on to win, another car passed to take 2nd and i got home in third. There was some discussion among the judges and it was deemed that the tap I received was not fair play, and so I got moved up to 2nd, not to first as another car had passed me who was not involved in the incident.
my final result was disappointing, two 4ths and a 2nd. But even if I had won the last race, my two first races killed any chance I had of moving through to the semi's. Game over man.
All in all it was VERY tough racing, with such limited time to get used to the hardware setup or the tracks. (Only Tokyo was a problem though really as its not in GT5P).
We all had a short blackboard session with Johnny Reid (A1GP, Porsche GT3 cup etc), who spoke about cornering, braking etc, but honestly if you make it to your GT final, you know what he is telling you anyway.
In another session each group got to go for a tour around our newest racetrack in NZ, Hampton Downs, with another racer (Nurburgring 24hour competitor). A great circuit it is, and its only going to get better. Very technical, with lots of elevation changes, off camber corners, blind entries. A mini Laguna Seca maybe almost.
Every entrant got their GT Academy T shirt, with "Finalist" on the back, and a goodies bag at the end, with a pen, keychain, Ratchet and Clank game(:indiff:??!!), GT cap, GT5 for PSP game, and a voucher for a free copy of GT5. Oh I got $50 petrol voucher too, so I actually made money today. :)
So despite my poor performance it was a good day, meeting up with fellow racers, some who i've been racing online for 18 months or more.
And just making it to the finals is something I can always be proud of.
Once again, big congratulations to TIZZLA 👍 a most worthy and deserving winner !!
 
WELL DONE TIZZ! AWESOME STUFF! :D

Sounds like it was a great day ripping. A shame about the results, but ah well, good experience yeah? Love the vouchers too! Free GT5! Nice. PD helps with Ratchet and Clank I think, one of em I saw "Producers of GT4". :lol:

Well done again to all of you who attended! Great effort!
 
AU winner GTP_DHolland.

Many thought the Australian final might be a Dan Holland white wash, but not so. GTP_Devie (Steven Devjak) fought to and fro all day during the heats. Indeed during the first of the semi's an incident resulted in Dan going off while Devie won. This meant that Dan had to win the 2nd semi just to get into the final, starting from 3rd on the grid he managed to get the win, but not without controversy, as Devie was nudged off the track during the event.

The final which included tepez1985, joshmuggo, GTP_Devie and GTP_Holland was tooth and nail, all took a turn in the lead and during the middle laps of the 8 lap race Dan Holland and Devie were wheel to wheel, until in another racing incident, Devie went off.

A deserving winner Dan Holland drove with skill and intelligence all day, but it was a close run thing that any of the 4 grand finalists could have won.
 
Last edited:
Great job Dan! Bad luck Steven, would've been great to see two TT-R drivers win, but great work Dan! Really deserving victory it sounds like. 👍
 
Well done Tizzlaa. Consistency was the key to victory.

I've probably said it all day, and i'll say it again. The penalty system was absolute bull****. I got rammed off the road in races two and three, resulting in spins. Neither racers were penalised. Oh well.

However, all in all it was a good day. A good hard fought battle between me a Wayne during the first race, trading places through the race and to finish only 0.02 within each other. Another 10m and I would have had ya :P

Ripping_Silk, nice to meet ya. Agreed about the Johnny Reid tutorial, was boring to say the least as we knew everything he told us. Oh and can you PM me those details regarding the Trans Tasman battle. Would love to participate :)
 
Last edited:
Congratulations TIZZLA, and Dan!! :cheers:

I would love to hear more about those collisions & how those were handled by the staff & judges... sounds a bit scary, I must admit.
 
Congrats Tony, well deserved, great to know that you have got an opportunity like the Academy presents.
 
Well done Tizz....thought you the one beat from the beginning. enjoy the ride mate.

Had the same issues as mentioned by Ripping....spun where i should not have and could not recover....... got taken out where i should not have and could not recover. I should have been more vocal in protest for a reset of the race but the stewarts had a schedule to keep to so no attempt by them to right the wrongs...

Anyway i was happy to be apart of the day...meet up but with some online friends and made some new ones...got a whole lot of free stuff...race tips from proffesionals...some hoon laps in a company car...food, beer and one really hot PR girl(honest she looked like Lewis Hamiltons Ex).

Thanks GT Academy
 
Great time by the sounds of things, despite the stewards being fairly leniant by the sounds of things.
Well done Tizzla and Dan. :bowdown:
 
Congratulations TIZZLA and Dan :cheers:

commiserations to rippinsilk, Devie and joshmuggo (incredible qualified with pad)
 

Latest Posts

Back