GT5 David Coulthard - Are You as Fast?

[UMC 22]

By now you've probably seen the in-game news article or PS Blog entry regarding tomorrow's special event. For those that haven't, today (Monday 5th September) at 14:20 GMT, David Coulthard will drive a Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG around an as-yet-undisclosed track somewhere in Europe. At the very same time, a group of six competition winners will race against him in real-time using GT5 in "the ultimate battle of virtual vs reality racing". The winner gets an all expenses paid trip to the Brazilian F1 Grand Prix! (Not including Mr Coulthard of course, since the BBC pays his way...)

You can watch the event live right here!

For those not lucky enough to have won the competition for the live race (or to have even heard about it...), a special seasonal will be available with the highly original title, 'Mercedes-Benz Driving Event'. Same car, same track, and a full online leaderboard so that you and your friends can compare yourselves to the Flying Scotsman himself.

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Join the Action!​

To mark the event I thought it would be fun to see how RaceDepartment members stack up in the form of our own little competition. All you have to do to take part is have a crack at the seasonal event, make a note of your best time, and post it here. A leaderboard will be created so that you can keep track of how you are doing compared to your fellow RD'ers. According to the PS Blog, the seasonal will run from 5th - 26th September, so our competition will run for the same period.

At the end of that time, the member with the best time will win a little prize. They will get to choose the cars and tracks to be used for a week of GT5 Club racing! (Two events) Ooh-la-la! :eek: So put on your kilt, scoff some haggis, jump in your Merc and burn some rubber!

:f1:​

[Note: Please include your PSN ID when posting your lap time. This is so that at the end of the competition, I can add you as a friend to verify your lap time via the in-game leaderboards. Please DO NOT add me until I send a request... I don't want to be bombarded with messages! Thank you!]


David Coulthard: 1:16.32
Jason Birt: 1:16.86 (Real-time event winner)


RaceDepartment Leaderboard

1) Matt Clark - 1:16.278
2) Ross Garland - 1:17.656
3) Andy White - 1:18.083
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Update: Due to a glitch that allows people to significantly reduce their lap times, I will now be checking the full replay of the winning lap.

 

[UMC 22]

The real-time event is over. Coulthard managed a time of 1:16.32, cooking his tyres in the process and even spinning off eventually due to a wet track. His closest virtual rival, Jason Birt, was just half a second behind with a time of 1:16.86. Not a bad comparison between the worlds of real and virtual racing.

However, the seasonal event has been live for less than an hour and already the best time is in the high 1:15's! Are there any RD'ers out there that can beat DC?

:letsgoracing:​

 

[Bram Hengeveld]

I can beat DC and I have just upgraded my PS3 so tomorrow he is mine

 

[UMC 22]

Ok, I guess I'll go first then. :tongue: My best so far is 1:18.109, which is .109 away from the gold trophy time. I'm pretty sure I can get into the 1:17's but putting in a valid lap without clipping any cones is proving difficult. I can't see me getting anywhere near Mr Coulthard though.

Obviously my lap time will not be added to the leaderboard since I'm the one running the competition.

 

[Bram Hengeveld]

If there were cones on the track today DC would have collected some also as he was seriously cutting

You did your time on street tyres Ross?

 

[UMC 22]

Lol, indeed he was. You certainly can't use his lines. I personally think they've overdone the cones a bit though. They prevent you using areas of the track that both DC and the Top Gear crew use.

You did your time on street tyres Ross?

Unlike most seasonal events the car is provided for you, so you can change nothing about it's setup or tyres. It's set to use Comfort Softs. I thought it would be awful like the Lotus Elise event, but it's actually not too bad at all. Drifters will probably love it!


Edit:

I've just noticed that traction control defaults to '5', which is rather annoying. I assumed it was off since the setting is usually retained between races. Just a heads up because turning it off completely can shave a little off of your lap times.

 

[Andy White]

Had a few laps this afternoon, didn't really take it too seriously. Did Coultard use the same "comfort tyres" that we are forced to use, I doubt it, and not being able to take the same lines as him is annoying (bloody cones, lol). Anyway I managed a 1:18:083, so didn't quite achieve the gold medal.


Mod Edit: There are other threads for criticising the game, so please do so there. This is a competition for fun, not a complaint thread.

 

[UMC 22]

Coulthard was using street tyres which are apparently the equivalent to the 'Comfort' brand in GT5. Since people have smashed his best lap time on the leaderboards, it would suggest you actually have more grip in the game than he did in real life. I would think that was true since the real track would be greasy, the weather was not ideal, and he had to worry about cooking his brakes and tyres. None of those things are a concern when driving the in-game seasonal.

So come on guys, where are your lap times?! I know some of you have run the event from the leaderboards. Don't be afraid to post them here! :wink:

 

[Andy White]

Sorry if my comments about the ps and gt5 caused offence, but to be honest I didn't think my criticisms were that harsh, but still this is a forum and things can be taken out of context so fair play for the mod edit.

Come on guys lets see some lap times, I want to see how bad I was, lol.

Forgot to put my PSN id in last time.... it's TheAndroid

 

[UMC 22]

It's not that they caused offense or were overly harsh, Andy. It's just that this thread is supposed to be a fun competition to promote the RD GT5 community. All too often threads end up turning into a debate about the good and the bad of the game, losing sight of the topic at hand. I'd rather opinions and criticism on the game itself were posted elsewhere, such as the rating thread.

Anyway, congrats on being the first onto the leaderboard. 1:18 to beat then guys!

 

[Andy White]

Fair point Ross, and I totally understand.

Thanks for the congrats. I doubt I'll stay at the top for very long though , especially when a few of the "aliens" start posting their times.

I think I probably could have got into the 1:17's but I had problems getting my wheel dialled in, haven't used it for quite a while on gt5 and just couldn't seem to hit that sweet spot where it feels just right. Still had good fun though.

 

[UMC 22]

I couldn't resist one last go before calling it a night. Turning TC off worked like a charm for me. My new best time is 1:17.656. Shame I'm not in the competition really! :tongue:

 

[Andy White]

Can't see why your time shouldn't be added to the standings. If you do end up winning you can always let 2nd place take the "prize". I don't have any problems with your time being added.

 

[Mr Whippy]

Cool challenge, I might have a go tonight for a bit.

It's nice to see comfort softs being forced... the road cars feel so much better with the comfort tyres!

The Elise TG track challenge is just pure wrong, for some reason, but on almost all the other road cars comfort softs are the most fun to drive and the most rewarding from car control POV too imo!


PS, semi tempted to become a licensed member, does my PSN username AND my RD username need to change to my actual real name!?

Dave

 

[UMC 22]

PS, semi tempted to become a licensed member, does my PSN username AND my RD username need to change to my actual real name!?

Nope, only your forum name will be changed when your application is processed. You may as well go ahead, as it costs nothing and you have nothing to lose! Also, you need to be a licensed member to take part in Club races... not much use winning this competition and choosing the events if you can't take part in them! :wink:

 

[UMC 22]

Just a quick update guys. A glitch has been found which allows people to knock a significant amount off of their lap time. (No, I will not reveal what it is.) Because of that I will be now be checking the replay of the winning lap to ensure that the glitch has not been used. Stay on the track between the cones and lines, and you'll be fine.

 

[Matt Clark]

hey guys, im down i the 16's legitimate, i will post the exact time tomorrow when i get home from my mrs's

 

[UMC 22]

More than a week on and just one person on the leaderboard? Why the reluctance to post your times guys? It's just a bit of fun and it's not like anyone is going to take the mick. :frown:

Given the complete lack of interest, I assume it's not worth making any other time trial style competitions in the future?

 

[Matt Clark]

Renthal_211

1.16.278

 

[UMC 22]

I think we may as well abandon this competition.

For one thing there's the lack of interest in participating, even though many RD members have tried this event as they are on the online leaderboards. If anyone has any insight on why that is then please share it, as it would be helpful for future reference.

Secondly, PD have announced that the whole event including the leaderboards will be reset due to the track glitch, which has now been fixed. After the reset there will be no way for me to verify times set beforehand, meaning our own leaderboard will also have to be reset. If no-one is taking part then there is no sense in doing that.

My apologies to the two that did take part.

In the current Mercedes-Benz Driving Event from the online events section of Gran Turismo, it has been noted that it is possible to shorten laptimes by driving a line that is not intended to be a part of the track layout.

Due to this, we have decided to perform an update that would adjust the areas where driving is disallowed on the Top Gear Test Track, reset the rankings, extend the event duration, and redistribute the event.

We sincerely apologise to those who have already participated in the event, and ask for your patience and understanding.