I believe many of you will recall our report from the 2015 SEMA automotive show several months ago when we closely followed the battle between five 2015 GT Awards finalists, all brought together from various categories. Presented by Gran Turismo creator Kazunori Yamauchi himself, the ”Best in Show” crown was awarded to a painstakingly-modified Datsun 240Z, which is owned by popular Fast & Furious movie star Sung Kang.

Big news out of Melbourne earlier this week: in the run-up to the 2016 F1 season, Red Bull Racing and Aston Martin announced a long-term partnership that will not only see the winged logo of Gaydon adorn the RB12’s of Ricciardo and Kvyat, but the two companies collaborating on a road car. Not just any road car, either: Adrian Newey, Red Bull’s CTO (and designer of 10 World Championship F1 cars), will be working closely with Aston designer Marek Reichman on a range-topping hypercar.

Video game development involves more observation than one may think. Since producing a game implies working with various industries, every title usually has to undergo complicated schemes of developing content before it can finally reach the shelves at its best state. Naturally, if the cycle of production is slightly longer, it is likely that certain ideas that were initially set will change over time.

We’ve all got some special friends on social media… You know who I’m talking about: the people who share everything they come across, regardless of how ridiculous it looks or sounds?

This event was originally scheduled for 20th February, but had to be postponed due to issues with the PlayStation Network.

The 2016 Formula One season kicks off this weekend and I couldn’t be more excited. This year is markedly different in comparison: a new team; new qualifying; Red Bull has a new sponsor; Pastor Maldonado will no longer entertain us with his real-life “Crash FM” (I’m patting myself on the back for that reference, thank you); and Renault is back in the fray.

Some games sell themselves based on millions of advertising dollars and constant media attention. Codemasters don’t have that kind of exposure but this trailer proves they don’t need it – DiRT Rally can sell itself. Codies asked fans of the PC version of the game to show off their best moments so far and have compiled a master-cut of that footage to promote the upcoming console release on April 5th.

Coming hot off their DB9 adapter allowing non-Thrustmaster pedals to be paired alongside a competent wheel from the company, they’ve now released an adapter that further opens up the hardware ecosystem, allowing owners of the T3PA and T3PA-PRO 3 pedals to use them as standalone products.

While the seeds have been planted for quite some time now, Slightly Mad Studios have now made it official: announcing that the critically-acclaimed WMD-powered racer will be an Oculus Rift launch title.

It’s that time again! Members of the community have done their inner track designer proud and come up another sixteen ribbons of tarmac. Ranging from race track replicas, fantasy circuits, point-to-points, to even tracks borrowed from other franchises, there’s something for everyone.

It was around two weeks ago when we shared more details regarding Turn 10’s plan to expand the territory of the Forza Motorsport series by launching a special title to the Windows platform. Known as Forza Motorsport 6: Apex, the new title was touted as a free-to-play, ‘slimmed down’ version of regular Forza Motorsport games, aiming for a more casual players.

Playstation VR’s reveal has lead to massive pre-order numbers for the core device and related peripherals (such as the mandatory Playstation camera). Outside the hardware aspect of VR, an area of interest is the software that will have support for the headset.

Following up on last year’s competition with the Electronics Sport League, SMS continues their bid to blur the line between the virtual and real worlds with the announcement of this year’s eSports competition, and have announced silicon giant NVIDIA as the sponsor.

Sony took the opportunity to lay out more details for its virtual reality headset at the Game Developers Conference earlier today. While the fall release date is later than originally planned, prospective buyers will be happy to see that PS VR undercuts rivals from both Oculus and HTC… though not by as much as you’d think (more on that in a bit). Pricing for the following territories was announced:

https://youtu.be/OHjbBxNUQk4

“Where is the S14?” While that particular refrain will no doubt echo on in the face of this month’s FM6 DLC, the Meguiar’s Car Pack does at least address one of the most-requested vehicles, with Ferrari’s turbocharged, 661bhp 488 GTB finding its way into the game. The berlinetta is arguably overshadowed by other additions, as this pack drills into the history books to present cars that are making their racing game debuts.

Following on from the Nismo mention of the program last week, GT Academy held a press event yesterday in Egypt. Taking place at the Autovrooom track in Cairo (Facebook link if you have a particularly strong interest in the Sunny and/or Juke), few details were released, though GTPlanet member (and 2015 GTA North African champion) sems4arsenal was present. Much as the case was last year, expect some changes to the format…

It wasn’t all sunshine and smiles in Florida this past weekend. After a solid season opener the week before in Texas, Heitkotter and teammate JD Davison faced stiff competition on the tight street circuit of a cloudy St. Petersburg. While outright victory would evade the GT-R’s in Florida, the two drivers made points progress nonetheless, including a podium finish.

You have spoken! Last week’s Whitetail Raceway was chosen by our community, and that’s been followed up by another group decision with today’s TOTW induction: Sierra Speedway.

The Le Castellet circuit in France, better known to the motorsport community as the Circuit Paul Ricard, was this week’s home to the Blancpain GT Series as the official pre-season testing began for the upcoming season.