Goodwoods renowned 1.86km Hill Climb, centre piece of the British stately homes annual Festival of Speed, was announced as a new track to feature on the forthcoming Gran Turismo6 game for PlayStation3. Polyphony Digital Inc., creators of PlayStations best-selling Gran Turismo franchise, were an official partner of the 2013 Goodwood Festival of Speed (11-14 July). Hosted by the Earl of March, the partnership was launched by the unveiling of a special GT6 demo made available to over 196,000 spectators that attended the international celebration of all things automotive and motor sport.
GT6 proves a crowd pleaser The Festival-goers were challenged to beat Nick Heidfelds real Hill Climb course record of 41.6s, by recording laps on the stunning GT6 Goodwood Hill Climb demo. PlayStation race pods were installed at The Media Centre, The Goodwood Road Racing Club, The Family Area and Goodwood Hotel, while manufacturers including Nissan, Alfa Romeo, Mercedes-Benz and Ford also had pods on their stands. Over 23,000 virtual runs on the GT6 Hill Climb were completed across the four days of the Festival of Speed.
GT6 appreciated by the pros The Drivers Club is the exclusive home for the weekend for the drivers taking part in the Goodwood Hill Climb. The PlayStation race seat in The Drivers Club proved a popular way for drivers to warm up prior to posting times on the real Hill Climb. The GT6 Hill Climb was test driven by a host of high profile names from motorsport including F1 drivers Max Chilton, Jules Bianchi and Adrian Sutil, ex-Formula One Brazilian legends Nelson Piquet and Emerson Fittipaldi and Toyotas British Le Mans 24 Hours driver Anthony Davidson.
It also proved a proud opportunity for Marino Franchitti to be reunited with the Nissan DeltaWing. The Scottish driver explained: I have been a massive Gran Turismo fan since I was young and I have always played it a lot. To see my name on a car that I helped develop and drive at Le Mans 24 Hours now appear on Gran Turismo 6 was a massive buzz for me. The attention to detail on the virtual Nissan DeltaWing is unbelievable. The sound of the engine and the feeling of brakes and tyres shows the game designers have done a first class job and even more so than that, they have brought the game on once again.
It was a fun opportunity for three generations of the Fittipaldi family to pit their wits against each other on the GT6 Hill Climb. F1 legend Emerson Fittipaldi commented: We have been having a lot on fun. I am going to buy a PlayStation 3 once GT6 is available and put it in my living room, so I can continue to race with my six year son Emmo and grandson Pietro. It will be crazy!
GT6 on the Big Screen The GT6 Goodwood Hill Climb trailer was shown on the event big screens and venue screens once every hour during the Goodwood Festival of Speed. To view the trailer, please click on the link below:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=33XHZ0A51ck&hd=1
GT Academy For those that were inspired by all of the racing drivers on display at Goodwood, Nissan, PlayStations partner in the innovative GT Academy programme, ran a Wild Card competition on its Moving Motor Show display. Previous GT Academy champions Lucas Ordonez and Wolfgang Reip were on hand to support the Wild Card competition and take media guests up the Hill Climb in the real Nissan GT-R. Four winners will now progress to the UK National Final in August, while the competition continues on-line for a further two weeks.
