GT Academy 2016 - Discussion

And @GOWIE22 is in front of CTracing.

What no fat middle aged guys, obviously Nissan looking for something more marketable, although fitness test could be a problem good luck guys, represent.

Fastboysmith says:

1. Chris Mciver?
2. Steve Danielson
3. Keishi Ayukai
4. Bradely Pagiam
5. Oscar Redfurn
6. Michael Pryer

No liabilities if spelling is wrong - I'm just the messenger sent from the Shoutbox.

Six finalists have been selected to represent Australia at the Nissan GT Academy finals at Silverstone next month.

A group of 20 gamers from across the country descended on Warner Bros. Movie World on the Gold Coast for a two-day competition to determine the best six to progress to the week long global final in England from October 18.

Candidates tackled challenges ranging from a fitness examination, a Playstation Gran Turismo simulator competition, a mock media press conference and a motorkhana test against the clock, overseen by Nissan Supercars driver Dale Wood.

Keishi Ayukai (29, business development manager, QLD), Michael Pryor (21, student, NSW), Oscar Redfearn (21, marketing employee, SA), Bradley Packham (23, mechanic WA), Steve Danielsen (33, performer, VIC) and Chris McIvor (27, accountant VIC) all earned opportunities to represent their country.

The group will now undertake a series of competitions at Silverstone against winners from Mexico, North Africa, The Philippines, Thailand and Indonesia, with the winner set to receive a contract to become a factory Nissan driver.

Last year Brisbane’s Matthew Simmons triumphed in the competition, which saw the former postman become a fully fledged Nissan Blancpain Endurance Series driver.

Victorian candidate Danielsen has enjoyed an unusual route to secure his opportunity having worked as a musical actor for the last two years abroad and in Australia.

The 33-year-old believes he can transfer some of his skills from performing to motor racing.

“It is just outrageous. It is an opportunity to allow people’s dreams to come true and to make the top six has blown me away,” Danielsen told Speedcafe.com.

“I’m a little bit of anomaly. I performed in ‘Wicked the Musical’ in some parts of the world and in Australia, so to be bolted into this opportunity is something completely different.

“I think mental strength and being able to control your nerves is something I can take from performing into motorsport.”

Joining Danielsen at Silverstone is Prodrive Supercars mechanic Packham, who is aiming to make the transition to the next level in motorsport.

Packham moved to Bathurst to study engineering before earning a job at Lucas Dumbrell Motorsport last year and eventually moving to Prodrive as a number two mechanic on Cameron Waters’ Supercar.

“This is the next stage. I have been spinning a few spanners for a few years now, but driving is a whole new level,” Packham told Speedcafe.com.

“I’ve been working on the best cars in Australia and one of the best teams in Prodrive is unreal.

“I don’t classify myself as a driver. I don’t do any sim racing, I just went on the day and I made it into the top six.”

GT Academy global director Daniel Whittemore was impressed by the standard of this year’s candidates and believes Australia has another strong shot to follow in the footsteps of Simmons.

Whittemore is confident the GT Academy competition will continue in Australia next year.

“There is plenty of potential in Australia and for race camp. It is early stages but they have as good a chance as anyone to progress,” said Whittemore.

“A few of the guys know Matthew (Simmons) so he has certainly been an inspiration to the candidates.

“Nissan and Sony are very committed to GT Academy and are both keen to make it happen next year.”

Well its been a long but fun weekend on the gold coast but ultimately we've come up short this time round.

Big congrats to the winners, they were the most consistent.

If i get time ill do a bit of a debrief over the next few days.

Well done @The_Spectre on achieving some exceptional results to earn your spot as a reserve! Some highlights:

• Plank test: 2nd, over 9 minutes
• Beep test: 3rd?, level 11+
• Motorkhana: 2nd?, 24ish seconds

Some great results also for @R0T0R-AU86 in the sim rounds and:

• Jump test: 3rd, 80cm
• Beep test: level 10.1
• Motorkhana: 25.6s

Should note that the judges seemed to allow a bit of run-up to perform the jump test which when combined with a good technique can yield quite a bit of extra height compared to just a stationary jump.
Apparently the top 10 were really close on points.

For reference, this is the scheduled activities sheet we were running with this year:

Gaming - Practice Session was 10 minutes for us to do whatever we wanted, such as practising one or more of the round combinations below.
Fitness Session this year was run in the following order (+ what I think the minimum targets are to be seriously considered for top 6):

1. Push ups done on command (50)
2. Jump test (70cm)
3. Planking (7.5 minutes)
4. Beep test (level 10)

The motorkhana course was apparently identical to 2015 and featured the following:

1. Standing start launch
2. Lane style slalom with cones defining the width of the lane (tennis ball on top of each cone, 5 second penalty for knocking it off, no penalty if bumped but they stay on.)
3. First clockwise loop around a barrel
4. Short straight section
5. Second clockwise loop around another barrel
6. Straight into a parking/stop zone

Judging criteria was based on time and driving style. A judge was always in the passenger seat and guided us through a:

1. Slow practice run
2. Fast practice run
3. Timed run 1
4. Timed run 2

As for the media component, there were 3 interviewers with 2 questions each. Some questions were based on what we answered in a personal profile form we submitted during the application stage and other questions had generalised subjects focusing on Nissan/Nismo, motorsport, interests, goals, etc.


The settings for the gaming rounds were changed a few times so most of us ended with practice knowledge on different tyres to what was actually run. Should also note that I didn't see any HUD to indicate what tyre compound was currently on the car, but a competitor was asked to confirm that the settings were the same on every rig for each round. Also noticed some of the rigs could have the seat pulled closer to the wheel than others. Don't quite remember the name of the wheel settings value in the pre-race/TT menu but there were 3 configurable numbers going top to bottom:

• ? - 3
• Force? - 5
• Sensitivity? - 8

Whatever it was, there was barely any force feedback worth mentioning from the T300s. However a fellow competitor turned everything (?) up to 10 after the conclusion of the gaming rounds and confirmed that the wheel now felt really good.

BTW out of the 6 winners, one of them was a wild card who'd never played racing sims and another was a reserve (neither set a top 6 qualifying time at Melbourne/Sydney).

looked like the same layout for the real car as last year to put in comparison to last year my time was a 25.5 while Matt's was a 25.6, which was the fastest right up until Pringles had a go and beat us by almost a whole second

http://www.motorsport.com/gt/news/australian-gt-academy-finalists-decided-825776/
There's a few more photos in this article, including @R0T0R-AU86 going over the jump test scale

Wow, thanks Bob.

That's bloody invaluable information.

I had it in my mind to achieve a 15 minute plank and 60 push ups before next year. That shot of @R0T0R-AU86 going over the scale is hilarious when you look at the judges' expressions!

I only really got to see the motorkhana this year, but yeah, course looked the same. Nobody managed to hit the same cones that I got last year though haha. The pace was fairly similar to last years in the mornings run, with I think only a few getting into the 24s. But the the second group had pretty awesome drives. Michael Pryor looked especially quick and confident from his first sighting lap, ending with a 24.4 I think. Keishi had the same time also, but Michael Keeley was the quickest managing a 23.8! That was about the same as Dale Woods benchmarking time. I did notice that some of the guys were getting a fair bit of wheelspin which slowed them down most of the time, but Keeley had a nice little powerslide as he put the power down. Overall I heard from most of the officials that the level this year was so intense, hopefully that can translate into another Aussie winner!

Yeah mate - I think I went WAY too conservative in the driving.. I ended up doing a 25.6 as well... I new I should of pushed! blah, I think that's where I really should of pushed to have a chance!

@B-Spec Bob I think I ended up doing a level 10.1 in the beep test.. 3rd in the jump...

In the gaming I think I would of been in the top 6.. 2nd in the first round, maybe around 10th in the second and 3rd in the last round...
Fitness overall I was about 6-10th? maybe? and in my group for the driving I ended up 6th.... So I wasn't consistent enough across the whole weekend....

However in saying this as much as I want it, i don't think i was all there... I was going in with doubts and thinking of the bigger picture and didn't back myself enough... If I go to Silverstone i want to go all the way, and IF i did - I wouldn't be able to do it as i have zero savings atm... So my mind was all over the place...

I tell you what though, I know exactly how matt felt.. For sure I would of been right up there, but next year I plan on dominating the fitness....

Yeah I thought I should've been more consistent with the gaming stuff and was kinda ok with the fitness stuff until my left calf muscle and favoured stop-turn leg started cramping during level 2 of the beep test But it was my lack of track experience that really ended any chance I may have had so I just enjoyed the rest of the weekend and looked forward to hopefully qualifying again with a year of training and experience under my belt.
Good luck with your bodybuilding prep/competition and remember to not order the "beef" salad next time

Just when I thought I had a decent chance for when I'm finally eligible, I read the fitness...

Looks like I have a LONG way to go...
Serious question, were there any asthmatics that made the nationals?

Regardless since I've started training and working in the warehouse/factory I've lost a bit of weight but I'm still unfit, breathing difficulties don't help... I'm yet to meet a fit asthmatic lol.

I must congratulate all all of the roozers who were in the finals, just making it to that stage is a huge achievement, and since Matt's win it seems the standard for winning has escalated far more than I could have anticipated.

Not sure whether I actually had asthma as a child or the doctor just prescribed those puffer things as a precaution. Don't remember having any asthma attacks and haven't used a puffer for over 2 decades so not sure if asthmatic or just never really excelled in aerobic fitness. Granted in order to reach a level 10 beep test I'd expect to be able to jog around 10km-12km within an hour.

I've got 2 years (seeing as though I can't be eligible for next year) to train up physically, get better at the game (up until a few weeks ago hadn't played in a year XD) and even on the real driving stuff aswell. Good insight into how it all works guys and well done

Yeah I was the same last year, too conservative with the driving. Hopefully life will be more aligned with my gt academy attempt next year.

My weekend was ultimately spoiled by a single challenge... the superpole 1 lap challenge which i completely boned up. I had results similar to rotors in the first 2 challenges but boning up the third bought my score for the sim racing component down into the bottom half of the field. I had strong results in the three other main areas and a decent sim score wouldve seen me through, but thats the pressure of the competition... while i sit and wait for a phone call as a reserve, i doubt it will come this year.

If nothing i learnt alot about the comp and where i can improve further at my preparation and performances on the day, so ill start training for 2017 and attack it with everything i did this year and more.

Fitness is the easiest bit. But it's not something you can do overnight. The key is regular training. Plank 1 min every day and you'll do 10 mins in a competition. I almost did 10mins (stopped when I was last person) after doing 80 push-ups last year. If you're not already playing sport or doing some regular exercise, you need 3 months to do yourself justice. Anything less and your not giving your full potential.

P.s. I used to be asthmatic

Hello
Just wondering where u guys are getting your results from... Or are you guys jus going off your notes from the weekend. As I would like to get some feedback on my performance or lack of lol.
Cheers

I see they're still running street cars on racing soft tyres at the nationals.

Great job to all of the ROOZers at the national final, well done lads.