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Introducing the Winners of the Gran Turismo 5 Time Trial Challenge
Feb 22, 2010
Last December, Polyphony Digital invited Gran Turismo fans in the US and Canada to test their skills in a demo featuring the latest iteration of Gran Turismo 5 to see who the best Gran Turismo players truly are. The dust has settled, the results are in, and now it is time to reveal the identity of the winners of the Gran Turismo 5 Time Trial Challenge who will be making their way to the 2010 Indianapolis 500® Mile Race as VIPs this May.
The demo's advanced driving physics, built from the ground-up to replace the physics engine from Gran Turismo 5 Prologue, provided a high level of realism and challenge as players competed in time trial events with standard and tuned versions of Nissan's 370Z on a special layout of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
Pulling ahead to take the top spot for all of the United States was Carl Posey from the great state of Kentucky. After some intense jockeying on the rankings chart, when the flag dropped he finished with the fastest time for all of the United States. His fastest time with the standard Nissan 370Z was 1'47.643, with a time of 1'35.608 for the tuned 370Z, and a combined time of 3'23.251 for the event.
Here is what Carl had to say about winning this great honor.
I want to thank Sony Computer Entertainment of America for organizing the GT5 Time Trial Competition and allowing people from all over North America and the world to compete in this event and get a glimpse of what lies ahead in Gran Turismo 5.
I would also like to thank Kazunori Yamauchi and the rest of the team at Polyphony Digital for creating such a great series of games, and for giving players from all over the world the opportunity to compete against each other. This event has been great fun.
In order to win the competition, first and foremost, I spent a lot of time practicing, using my Logitech G27 wheel.
I guess you could say that through a trial and error process, I eventually developed a few main strategies for both cars. I always tried to make a habit of minimizing tire spin/ squeal as much as possible. Generally speaking, if the tires are squealing, you are losing traction and losing time. At almost every corner, my aim was to use the absolute minimum amount of braking possible, and when I had to brake I made sure I did so as smoothly as possible. I use my left foot for the brake pedal, because it allows me to apply brake and throttle simultaneously when necessary. It also makes trail braking, a smooth braking technique, very easy to pull off. This helps the car turn better through the corner and helps keep the car more stable. The third main thing that really helped me was slow in, fast out. Its simple and obvious, but its absolutely crucial to fast lap times.
I also like to race against ghost replays from faster times than mine to race against and keep me on my toes. Not everyone does this, but for me it kept me motivated and helped me know if I was having a good lap or not.
When I was "in the zone" I was able to remember these important tips, and they all helped me to achieve the fastest time in the U.S. Gran Turismo 5s driving physics are very realistic, so my previous practice with other Gran Turismo games (I hold quite a few #1 lap times in Gran Turismo 5 Prologue) also helped prepare me to do well in this competition.
Representing Canada as the competitor with the fastest combined time in all of North America is Bruno Lafrance of Quebec. His fastest time with the standard Nissan 370Z was 1'47.676, with a time of 1'35.569 for the tuned 370Z, and a combined time of 3'23.145 for the event.
Here is what Bruno had to say about this great honor.
I am very thankful to have been selected as the Grand Prize winner for the Gran Turismo 5 Time Trial challenge.
I think what helped me the most in being successful in this Time Trial is my past experience with the series. Gran Turismo 4 is the game that got me started, but the time and effort I put into Gran Turismo 5 Prologue was especially helpful. I never thought I could improve that much in one month by playing several hours a day on average. And I was even able to put skills learned and refined in Gran Turismo to use in real life, when I graduated from Bridgestone Racing Academy's "Advance to Racing" course, racing a 2008 Van Diemen formula car.
After the Gran Turismo 5 Time Trial Challenge, I am very excited about Gran Turismo 5 and how it will help me become a better driver in the game and on the real track.
PlayStation and Polyphony Digital congratulate Carl Posey and Bruno Lafrance, and thank them and all of the participants who downloaded the Time Trial Challenge demo and entered the competition.
This coming May, both Carl and Bruno will be headed to Indianapolis, Indiana, receiving round-trip airfare and hotel accommodations for two (winner and guest) to attend the 2010 Indianapolis 500® Mile Race, a.k.a. the Indy 500®. Each will also receive a VIP package that includes two all-access passes for Carb Day® (final Indy 500® practice, pit stop competition, special concert festivities, special event car rides in a 2010 Indy 500® event vehicle), all-access passes to the garage, pit area, and Victory Lane for pre- and post-race celebrations for the race, and two VIP suite tickets to enjoy the race. This is a once-in-a-lifetime experience, especially for racing fans like Carl and Bruno.
http://us.gran-turismo.com/us/news/d5201.html
Great job Carl!!!!!
And likewise to Brock, who was sitting in your back seat (I didn't even know they made a 2+2 model)
as I didn't have any recent pictures to give them.
) guys. 
Without a doubt in my mind, you've been the most improved GTplanet driver of 2009...so you ought to be very proud of your hard work, dedication, talent, and smarts to have gotten to where you are my friend 
How times have changed! A good prize for an excellent driver. But you, and TA, are both very deserving of a shot at the GT Academy. 👍 Enjoy Indy, make sure you get your GoDaddy gear ready for Danica!
but we did get a very nice ride around the track in a Chevy Impala 
