Adam's GT Academy Adventures: Part One – Silverstone

Ever since its debut in 2008, GT Academy has given aspiring race drivers a reason to play Gran Turismo for hundreds of hours in order to make their dreams a reality. And, with Jann Mardenborough, Lucas Ordóñez, Mark Shulzhitskiy and countless others becoming established stars of motorsport through the system, it’s easy to see why.

I’ll make it clear from the very start that my use of Gran Turismo is extremely variable – sometimes I will play up to five times a week, but on other occasions I will not touch it for over a month. Additionally, at the tender age of 17, I am not even eligible for the finals. Therefore, I am playing purely for fun, but I will document my progress throughout the rounds anyway.

The first thing that struck me upon entry was the sheer contrast between the first round of this year compared to last years. In 2014, competitors started their journey behind the wheel of a Nissan Leaf at the Brands Hatch Indy Circuit – this year, we have been thrown in the deep, behind the wheel of the 591BHP Nissan GT-R NISMO at Silverstone GP!

The second thing to strike me was the incredible understeer of the GT-R, which was more than likely amplified by the fact I’d become used to the grip of Racing Tires. Soon after, I made a strike of my own; annoyingly, it was directed at an innocent cone, and I was disqualified instantly. This was a theme early on, with cones and track limits catching me out on every attempt for at least ten minutes.

When I finally set a valid lap, it wasn’t even enough to achieve the gold target time of 2:11.000. “This is why I’m a commentator!” and several other phrases bemoaning my lack of ability followed, however, for the purposes of this blog (and my own pride) I tried again. Fortunately, my next lap was enough for gold, and within three laps I had achieved a low 2:09. I knew there was more speed to come, so I vowed to sit with the game again soon.

When I did finally fire up my PS3, I cut another second off my time, placing me within the top 12,000. For the first time in my life, I was happy that a mere 11,000+ people had beaten me at something – it does sound incredibly silly when you think about it. At this point, despite feeling as though I’d found my personal limit already, I decided to set myself a goal; a 2:06.

In my next few brief sessions with GT, I focused hard, attempting to find the right balance between entry speed and corner exit, and eventually, I found myself achieving a lap time of 2:07.4. This felt like the absolute limit of my capabilities. Yet, the next day (last Sunday), I was compelled to have one last go at the trial.

I went out on track, and launched my car around the first corner with purpose and vigour – I hit a cone. I calmed myself down, and spent the first half of my next lap barely thinking. However, as I approached the Maggots/Becketts complex, I realised this was a good lap. I’m certain that moment of realisation was the primary factor behind the botched last sector that followed, however, it was still enough: To my delight, I had set a 2:06.813, which was enough for 853rd on the leader board.

I have not attempted the trial since, as I know I have no more talent to give. Worryingly, as I write this to you on a Tuesday evening, I am already down to 975th, but for a humble DS3 user, I still think my time isn't terrible.

If you are struggling, make sure to focus on corner exit speed, particularly around the 'Arena' section, as well as Luffield, Becketts and Brooklands. A good, fast line around Copse is also essential. I’m sure there’s plenty of time to be found throughout the final sector for people above my abilities, but you will have to explore that possibility on your own…

It remains to be seen where GT Academy will take us next, though I have a feeling that we will be hitting Spa behind the wheel of a GT-R GT3. If that is the case, I can barely drive the car, and have been terrible at the track in every game I’ve ever driven it on… Do not expect me to be a factor in the top third of the timesheets.

Thank you for reading this edition of my blog here at CORE. Next time, I will most likely turn my attention to something away from Gran Turismo - Keep an eye on CORE’s Facebook and Twitter feeds for my next post!

ADDITIONAL CONTENT: Be sure to watch fellow CORE commentator Adam Johnson attempt the GT Academy trial on his YouTube channel, Bombersports Gaming!