Gaetan Paletou from France is the latest graduate of the Gran Turismo Academy to be launched from his sofa and straight into front-line racing career, following in the wheel tracks of previous winners like
Lucas Ordonez
and Britain's Jann Mardenborough. With Ordonez now in Japanese Super GT and
Mardenborough impressing in GP3
at Le Mans
Paletou has an amazing opportunity for a fast track to the very top of the tree, if he can hold his nerve.
Not the way to impress the judges...
PH was at Silverstone yesterday to get a taste of the GT Academy, the scale of which underlines what an investment Gran Turismo and Nissan have made in the series. Investment that'll include some panel beating for the 370Zs used for the final race between the finalists from each country following a somewhat dramatic finale.
Italian winner Riccardo Massa will be wishing he was back in a videogame and able to hit restart after initiating a first corner accident that saw him in the gravel minus a wheel; responsibility for the crash was officially declared his by race control but by that point hotly tipped Pipo Rodrigues had been knocked out in the incident while the Benelux car also involved managed to get back into the race. Paletou kept his nose clean though and this and his impressive development throughout the previous days of training and competition sealed his overall victory in the competition following what the press release describes as "lengthy deliberation" between the judges. Representing the French competitors, Rene Arnoux apparently gave a sufficiently "forceful argument for Gaetan's performance over all eight days" to convince fellow adjudicators Johnny Herbert, Rob Barff, Mark Shulzhitskiy, Luca Filippi and Dani Clos his man deserved the title.
L-R: Yamauchi, Paletou and Cox celebrate
Round table conversations previously with Nissan motorsport boss (and now NISMO road car product man too) Darren Cox, Herbert and Gran Turismo figurehead Kazunori Yamauchi revealed interesting insights about how the competition has evolved over the years and the legacy it has forged. Asked if Nissan's LMP1 team would ever field a car teamed entirely by ex-gamers Cox said it was unlikely, given the need to pool talents, experience levels and "boring stuff" like making sure the drivers all fit in the same car. Had the Academy ruffled a few feathers at an apparent subversion of the established routes into motorsport taken by most competitors? "A few said just because you're good at PGA Golf you're not going to be the next Tiger Woods but I think we've proved in this context the concept works," says Cox, absolutely dedicated to the idea that the instincts traditional drivers learn through years of karting and junior formulae can also be developed with a games console.
'To finish first, first you must finish' and all that
It was also interesting to hear Cox and Herbert talking about the qualities that mark out the winners among the winners. Ordonez and Mardenborough, say the GT Academy guys, have the mindset of professional sportsmen and will do whatever is necessary to get to the top. GT Academy just gave them the leg up and opportunity to prove themselves. That not all the previous Academy winners have gone on to similar success proves that even in this select group the title is just the start of something big, not the end.
Will Paletou join the likes of Mardenborough on the grid at Le Mans one day? "I really liked his calmness," says Herbert. "He had a few issues with his car yesterday and again before the final race, he had to go through a lot of mental anguish, but he was able to get in the car and then win the race. He's incredible at keeping himself focused. He also has a lot of speed, he's still young and he has a little bit of weight he can lose, which is free speed. But his mental approach was the real standout."
And in the virtual and real world it was that mental strength all the judges and organisers agree marks out the real winners.