GT Designer In Real Life Racing

29 Sep 2009 at 11:05:50 by Andy Alderson

Gran Turismo 5 designer Kazunori Yamauchi has taken his racing expertise onto a real world racetrack.

In August Yamauchi took part in a race at the fearsome Nurburgring in Germany and, in only his first race in an actual racing car, he finished first.

“I wanted to confirm just how effective the experience in the virtual world is, by competing in a race on the Nurburgring,” said Yamauchi. 

“And that includes not just the driving aspects, but on a wider range of things including the building of the car, communication, and much more. And of course, this will all be fed back into future renditions of Gran Turismo."

He explained that towards the end of the race he experienced a genuine racing high which he hopes to recreate in future games.

"During that last thirty minutes, I forgot I was driving. It's difficult to put that feeling into words — the way I was handling the vehicle,” he told Kotaku.

When asked how he intends to recreate the experience he replied “[t]hrough a higher level of game making.”

Yamauchi isn’t the first gaming man to take to the racetrack – DICE’s Patrick Soderlund was involved as a consultant in the making of the new Need For Speed title, SHIFT.

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