K1 Speed Challenge GP: How I am preparing for the 2016 edition of GT Academy

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sk8er913

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Sk8er913
How I am preparing for the 2016 GT Academy, what are you doing or have done in the past to prepare for GT Academy?

K1 Speed is a business that gives people the chance to drive an electric kart with roughly 20 horsepower to the limit in a circuit for a low price. I went for the first time about a month ago and it was great! After a few minutes in the car I thought. "Wow I feel like I've done this before!" Clearly I was using my skills gained from racing on GT6 with my wheel, because I had never tried to drive a car or kart to its full potential before. :)

sac-pano-3-15.jpg


They have a racing league, that has 6 race championships. One race is held every month for 6 months, I am going to be joining the Challenge GP for the next season, which starts next week by the way. Has anyone gone to one of these before? I would like to hear about your experience or thoughts about this series. Would you be interested in joining it if you haven't?


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Race #1: July 12th

Review: I was very disappointed with my results. I tried a bad technique that works in GT6, however all it does in real life it makes you slow down and violently vibrate, forming bruises within minutes.

Results:

Qualifying:
Round 1:
1st............ 26.953
2nd........... 27.087
3rd............ 27.122
4th............ 27.162
5th............ 27.348
6th............ 27.487
7th............ 27.962

Round 2:
Lost the scoring sheet. Oops. My time was 7th... with a 27.6 and the person in behind me got a 27.2 in.

Race:

Caution Lap 2: 2 Karts malfunctioned and automatically applied the brakes. The cars were in 3rd and 6th, I believe. I crashed into the 6th place one, but it was only a small 5 mph tap.

After the caution was removed the now 7th and 5th place drivers had new karts, but lost valuable seconds of time.

Final:
1.............. 16 laps, Best lap: 26.678, Points earned: 16
2.............. 16 laps, Best lap: 26.886, Points earned: 12
3.............. 16 laps, Best lap: 26.836, Points earned: 10
4.............. 16 laps, Best lap: 26.942, Points earned: 8
5.............. 16 laps, Best lap: 26.800, Points earned: 6
6.............. 16 laps, Best lap: 27.132, Points earned: 4
7.............. 16 laps, Best lap: 26.987, Points earned: 2




Race #1 ------ Race #1 ------ Race #1 ------ Race #1 ------ Race #1 ------ Race #1 ------ Race #1 ------ Race #1 ------ Race #1 ------ Race #1

Race #2: August 4th


Review: This race was absolutely amazing, I wish I had an onboard camera, I had a 13 lap battle for position that's gap was never more than 2 tenths of a second for the whole 16 laps of the race.

Results:

Qualifying:
Round 1:
I was late and couldn't attend QP #1, so I also don't have a results sheet.

Round 2:
1st............ 26.597
2nd........... 26.909
3rd............ 27.162
4th............ 27.226
5th............ 27.680
6th............ 27.700
7th............ 27.943
8th............ 27.950

Race:

The battle: I started in 6th, the green flag dropped, I was on the tail of the 5th place car within half a lap. After a few laps I tried the inside, got side by side. But on the next turn he had the inside and retook his position. Two laps later I tried the same move again. Again unsuccessful. Now at approximately lap 9 we are approaching a lap car very quickly, I go for the inside, lock up my brakes! Nearly lose control, maybe even tap his kart! The pass would be successful, but the lapped kart blocks my line. And a few turns later 5th gets by him. Then 4 turns later I'm thinking, "I need to pass this guy NOW!" So I dive to the inside on a non-passing corner, and he lets me by. I promptly catch 5th over the next lap and a half. I GO TO THE INSIDE IN THE SAME CORNER AGAIN!! STILL SEARCHING FOR THAT PASS! I GET a NOSE ON HIM! Caution is out on lap 13. I slowly drive away after the drop of the green and finish in 5th place. This race was magnificent. I wish I had a reply to show you all. But I didn't have a camera attached. The car that was lapped had a go pro on it. But I don't think the driver will post it unfortunately due to his being lapped and all.



Final:
1.............. 16 laps, Best lap: 26.736, Points earned: 16
2.............. 16 laps, Best lap: 26.886, Points earned: 16
3.............. 16 laps, Best lap: 26.990, Points earned: 12
4.............. 16 laps, Best lap: 27.721, Points earned: 10
5.............. 15 laps, Best lap: 27.380, Points earned: 8
6.............. 15 laps, Best lap: 27.308, Points earned: 6
7.............. 15 laps, Best lap: 27.975, Points earned: 4
8.............. 11 laps, Best lap: 26.997, Points earned: 2



Race #2 ------ Race #2 ------ Race #2 ------ Race #2 ------ Race #2 ------ Race #2 ------ Race #2 ------ Race #2 ------ Race #2 ------ Race #2


Race #3: September 6th

Review: This race was good, but not as great as I had hoped. I learned a lot on this day, most of which I already learned from Gran Turismo 6, but had yet to be able to transition into the real world. And my results should've been better. in Qualifying #1, I started in the back and the traffic was terrible, I had 1 guy blocking me intentionally... IN QUALIFYING! :banghead: :odd: Then after I got by him I caught the next guy in 2 laps, and he was nice and let me by, but I still lost time. Traffic was just really bad in QP#1. I started the race in 4th. But my karts speed limiter malfunctioned, and I started in 4th with a train behind me, 10 seconds behind 3rd place. :ouch: Still good practice though. I got a lot of experience in being attacked, and how to push pesky wide karts out of the racing line tonight. :lol: Attacking is a lot easier than defense. :) More fun too. :lol:


Results:

Non-official Practice:

Public session (Slow traffic and yellows) Asterisk marks GP drivers*:
1st............ 27.063*
2nd........... 27.088*
3rd............ 28.017*
4th............ 30.353
5th............ 31.869
6th............ 31.893
7th............ 32.795
8th............ 33.623
9th............ 34.408
10th............ 34.485



Qualifying:

Round 1:
1st............ 26.809
2nd........... 26.963
3rd............ 27.169
4th............ 27.224
5th............ 27.302
6th............ 27.620
7th............ 27.700
8th............ 27.986

Round 2:
1st............ 26.902
2nd........... 26.967
3rd............ 26.982
4th............ 27.072
5th............ 27.103
6th............ 27.134
7th............ 27.202
7th............ 27.226

Race:

I have already expressed my discontent about the start of the race, but I don't think I have accurately described the battles on track. The 5th place car was quickly passed by a faster driver. Who caught me at around lap 11 out of 16. His average lap time was only 0.038 faster than mine. And he bumped me hard, trying to pressure me into making a mistake. But I took a defensive line. It slowed me down my 3 tenths a lap, but it blocked his passing opportunities, I was able to hold position to the checkered flag.

Final:
1.............. 16 laps, Best lap: 26.748, Points earned: 18
2.............. 16 laps, Best lap: 26.827, Points earned: 14
3.............. 16 laps, Best lap: 27.031, Points earned: 12
4.............. 16 laps, Best lap: 26.817, Points earned: 10
5.............. 16 laps, Best lap: 26.633, Points earned: 8
6.............. 16 laps, Best lap: 27.190, Points earned: 6
7.............. 16 laps, Best lap: 27.200, Points earned: 4
8.............. 16 laps, Best lap: 27.245, Points earned: 2


Race #3 ------ Race #3 ------ Race #3 ------ Race #3 ------ Race #3 ------ Race #3 ------ Race #3 ------ Race #3 ------ Race #3 ------ Race #3
 
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fortbo
Not sure yet.
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Have you driven a kart before or first time? I've only been in a kart once. But I think I am ready for the challenge because my GT expertise gives me a huge advantage. I was able to translate pretty much everything I know to the real world within 20 minutes of track time. :P And I'm not the only one that transferred years of simulated racing over to the real world. Nissans rookies beat the other manufacturers veterans every year it seems. :)
 
sk8er913
Have you driven a kart before or first time? I've only been in a kart once. But I think I am ready for the challenge because my GT expertise gives me a huge advantage. I was able to translate pretty much everything I know to the real world within 20 minutes of track time. :P
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I've driven one before, completely destroyed the competition. :lol: I'm just naturally a good driver, which is why I am trying to get my name out there in the racing community. I've been talking to some of the drivers in the Continental Tire Sports Car Championship.
 
fortbo
I've driven one before, completely destroyed the competition. :lol: I'm just naturally a good driver, which is why I am trying to get my name out there in the racing community. I've been talking to some of the drivers in the Continental Tire Sports Car Championship.
Click to expand...
You're further than I am then. I haven't talked to any professionals or pro-ams outside of GTP. (Except for Twitter)

I destroyed the competition in the regular day 4 QPs in a row. Except for QP number 5. And that's because my battery died...
 
RESULTS HAVE BEEN UPDATED FOR RACE #1!

Was not a happy race... but I learned a lot from it. Next month I'll get a 26.9 again. :)
 
RESULTS HAVE BEEN UPDATED FOR RACE #2!

Best race ever! @kart.no.38 This is my thread for karting league, but I think I'm the only one that uses it. :lol:


fortbo
I've driven one before, completely destroyed the competition. :lol: I'm just naturally a good driver, which is why I am trying to get my name out there in the racing community. I've been talking to some of the drivers in the Continental Tire Sports Car Championship.
Click to expand...

I wish you could join the league so we could see where we stack up, but we are on opposite sides of the continent. :lol:
 
It's a lot of fun. At my closest location, they link the two tracks together and make a single large track.

I actually worked there for a few years while at trade school.
 
Heldenzeit
It's a lot of fun. At my closest location, they link the two tracks together and make a single large track.

I actually worked there for a few years while at trade school.
Click to expand...
Did you enter this racing league? How'd you do?
 
I went to K1 Speed for my first time in Poughkeepsie while I was visiting some family down there in NY. I immediately showed some decent speed, but for one reason or another, I didn't quite break in to the top weekly or monthly lap times 👎. I think I was about 2-3 seconds off pace. I really gave it my all (I was truly flying, I could feel the limits being pushed....quite a lot of fun:tup:), but traffic definitely played a factor. Still, I was first in one race and 2nd in another, so I'll still take that!

There is another one about an hour and change in MA somewhere, but I feel if I'm gonna travel that far, why not just go to F1 Boston which is closer (have not been yet). Even better, there is a close by indoor kart track I gotta check out, so that's good. There is also some sort of real karting league at the NH Motor speedway, so that might be an option, albeit probably 10x more expensive!

It still would almost seem GT Academy gives me a better shot than actual karting when it comes to starting a racing career :lol:.

But back on the topic of K1, after I visited and noticed they have a league of sorts for each track, it got me thinking just like you. It's not like it isn't real racing, so it definitely helps experience wise. I imagine though if you wanted to get more serious you'd have to step up to karts with engines and race on official tracks.
 
Whodoyouthink
I went to K1 Speed for my first time in Poughkeepsie while I was visiting some family down there in NY. I immediately showed some decent speed, but for one reason or another, I didn't quite break in to the top weekly or monthly lap times 👎. I think I was about 2-3 seconds off pace. I really gave it my all (I was truly flying, I could feel the limits being pushed....quite a lot of fun:tup:), but traffic definitely played a factor. Still, I was first in one race and 2nd in another, so I'll still take that!

There is another one about an hour and change in MA somewhere, but I feel if I'm gonna travel that far, why not just go to F1 Boston which is closer (have not been yet). Even better, there is a close by indoor kart track I gotta check out, so that's good. There is also some sort of real karting league at the NH Motor speedway, so that might be an option, albeit probably 10x more expensive!

It still would almost seem GT Academy gives me a better shot than actual karting when it comes to starting a racing career :lol:.

But back on the topic of K1, after I visited and noticed they have a league of sorts for each track, it got me thinking just like you. It's not like it isn't real racing, so it definitely helps experience wise. I imagine though if you wanted to get more serious you'd have to step up to karts with engines and race on official tracks.
Click to expand...
Have you been in a league race? Those guys aren't noobs. :P
 
sk8er913
How I am preparing for the 2016 GT Academy, what are you doing or have done in the past to prepare for GT Academy?

K1 Speed is a business that gives people the chance to drive an electric kart with roughly 20 horsepower to the limit in a circuit for a low price. I went for the first time about a month ago and it was great! After a few minutes in the car I thought. "Wow I feel like I've done this before!" Clearly I was using my skills gained from racing on GT6 with my wheel, because I had never tried to drive a car or kart to its full potential before. :)

sac-pano-3-15.jpg


They have a racing league, that has 6 race championships. One race help every 6 months, I am going to be joining the Challenge GP for the next season, which starts next week by the way. Has anyone gone to one of these before? I would like to hear about your experience or thoughts about this series. Would you be interested in joining it if you haven't?


Sac5.jpg
Click to expand...

There's two K1 speed locations within an hour of me and I've off and on considered joining this myself but wasn't too sure of the details. Is it worth it?
 
Inconspicuous
There's two K1 speed locations within an hour of me and I've off and on considered joining this myself but wasn't too sure of the details. Is it worth it?
Click to expand...
Actual drive time is short, about 25 minutes of full pace and 5 minutes of slow pace. But its a lot of fun and good practice, just read my race summary of race #2. :lol:
 
fortbo
I was about less than a half a second from being in the top ten.
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Go to GP on Sept 6. They are about 75% in the best 12 of the week. :) ill show you my list.

Updated:
Reference the names from the race to the best of the week. :) also, note how consistent my lap times were.

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I don't think I'll be able to do the league though because the nearest location is an hour from me.
 
Inconspicuous
There's two K1 speed locations within an hour of me and I've off and on considered joining this myself but wasn't too sure of the details. Is it worth it?
Click to expand...
I'm guessing you're talking about the Torrance and Anaheim locations? I haven't been to K1 for about 4 years now, but have recently been wanting to give it a try again. It's extremely fun when you have a group of friends.
 
fortbo
I don't think I'll be able to do the league though because the nearest location is an hour from me.
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I have 2 that are an hour away in different directions. :P
ImaRobot
I'm guessing you're talking about the Torrance and Anaheim locations? I haven't been to K1 for about 4 years now, but have recently been wanting to give it a try again. It's extremely fun when you have a group of friends.
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My friends were surprisingly fast. :) One was only 1 tenth slower than me and the other was only 2 tenths faster. and I haven't been able to beat my original time yet from my 2nd qp at the track. :)
 

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