Last weekend, PlayStation held its newest Gran Turismo World Series Showdown in Amsterdam.
The two-day Gran Turismo 7 occasion featured a Manufacturers Cup, by which players raced for various automakers, and a Nations Cup, that includes 12 groups every representing their personal nation. For Canadians, the latter competitors was significantly noteworthy, as we had three homegrown racers enjoying for us. Canada in the end got here eighth in a heated 30-lap race.
Ahead of the Finals, although, MobileSyrup caught up with Team Canada to get a bit extra perception into what it’s wish to be a professional GT racer. First, that meant studying a bit extra about every Canadian racer.
The veteran on the crew was Edmonton’s Mark Pinnell, who’s been competing in Gran Turismo tournaments for over a decade and is even the one Canadian to make it into the GT Academy. Running from 2008 to 2016, the Nissan and Sony-funded program helped GT players hone their abilities to turn into actual racecar drivers.
Next up is Ethan Lim, a Vancouverite who began his GT journey throughout the COVID-19 pandemic and most not too long ago took half in final yr’s GT World Series in Monaco. (He additionally took half on this yr’s GT ProAm event alongside me, and you’ll examine that right here.)
Finally, there’s Chatham, Ontario’s Trent Jeffrey, whose first-ever stay professional gaming occasion is the Amsterdam World Series. Outside of GT, he performs drums in a band.
This yr, the Nations Cup’s new three-person crew format marks a shift from lone racers enjoying on behalf of their nation. Pinnell admitted that the change provides slightly extra strain in comparison with what he’s used to. “I don’t let my result bother me,” he says of racing alone. “And now that me messing it up can screw it up for two other people, there’s kind of that added pressure. But other than that, I think it’s a lot more fun.”
“It just requires a lot more coordination,” provides Jeffrey.
“It’s a lot of team building basically as a skill that you develop with other people in your country,” notes Lim. “So there’s a lot of organization and trying to represent the country as best as possible with two extra [racers.] It’s nice to have some help, people you can talk to and get some references from as well.”
Another component that took some getting used to was the return to the stay occasion format. Pinnell jokes that this was simply “another day at the office” for him, however it was understandably slightly completely different for his youthful teammates.
“With a live audience, it’s a whole different feeling than just playing at home when we were online qualifying to get here in the first place. With so many eyes watching you, it’s really nerve-wracking,” admits Lim. “At my first event last year [in Monaco], I was just having panic attacks. And I’m still having that feeling essentially going into this. But it’s just a whole different animal, really. But it’s just a really great experience no matter what. I believe just getting into the right mindset before driving just really helps the entire team morale.”
For Jeffrey, it’s the sensation of coming from small-town Ontario to the world stage in Amsterdam that’s a bit surreal. “It’s very, very different to growing up in like a kind of smaller town,” he says. “Nothing like this ever happens. And not a ton of people are part of something this big […] It’s racing against the best in the world with the best in the world, right?”
What’s additionally prone to make a change in the entire skilled Gran Turismo professional racing scene is Sony Pictures’ upcoming movie of the identical identify. Directed by South African-Canadian filmmaker Neill Blomkamp (District 9), Gran Turismo relies on the true story of Jann Mardenborough, GT Academy’s youngest graduate who ended up inserting third at the world-famous 24 Hours of Le Mans race.
Naturally, the movie has the potential to introduce many extra individuals to the world of Gran Turismo and its esports. With that in thoughts, what does Team Canada hope basic audiences take away from the big-screen adaptation?
“I’m really hoping they’ll bring GT Academy back,” admits Pinnell. “Hopefully the movie will create enough hype. It’s so much fun.”
“I believe the interest in motorsports will definitely be higher. F1 is already super popular with their Netflix Drive to Survive series and there’s been plenty of people who’ve never actually been interested in anything related to cars, racing or anything like that, they now religiously watch F1 every time it’s on,” says Lim. “Gran Turismo has been around for a long time, so they already have an established fan base. And to pair up a true story with an actual real-life racing school back in Gran Turismo 5 many years ago, it’s certainly going to draw the previous audience that was part of Gran Turismo already, as well as new people to maybe pick up a copy of this game and have a try.”
“I think the movie is just gonna open up people’s eyes to how there’s another avenue to get into motorsports. Usually, you have to pay a lot to get into karting or lower motorsports to build your way up to the top and stuff like that,” provides Jeffrey. “But we’ve seen in the last couple of years, the rise of some esports drivers getting in the ring with Nascar, GT racing, and even a lot Formula One drivers do sim racing like this.”
The crew will subsequent participate within the Gran Turismo World Series Finals in Barcelona from December 1st to third. The Gran Turismo movie, in the meantime, is now enjoying in early screenings in choose theatres earlier than a large launch on August twenty fifth.
Header picture credit score: Gran Turismo World Series
…. to be continued
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