Jann Mardenborough can vividly recount the first time he played Gran Turismo, the popular racing video game that would change his life.
While seeking shelter on Bonfire Night, a British holiday filled with fireworks, 8-year-old Mardenborough stumbled upon the game at his neighbors’ house. She played all night, and then every day, showing up at her neighbors’ door immediately after school.
“They got so fed up with me showing up at their house, that one day the wife crossed the street, knocked on our door and had the PlayStation and the GT 1 in her hand, and she gave them to my parents,” the pilot recalled. of racing for 31 years.
It is the origin story of another origin story: the true and improbable one portrayed in the film “Gran Turismo,” directed by Neill Blomkamp. The film dramatizes Mardenborough’s journey, from playing in his bedroom to winning the 2011 GT Academy — an annual competition that, from 2008 to 2016, put the game’s best players in real vehicles — to driving formula cars professionally.
Gran Turismo games are known for their scrupulously reproduced cars and demanding racing simulations. In the months leading up to the GT Academy, Mardenborough transitioned from a PlayStation controller to a homemade wooden race car frame along with a steering wheel and pedal.
The competition was a boon for Mardenborough, who was trying to sell automotive parts on eBay after losing his job. But he was skeptical about his chances. He hadn’t played Gran Turismo any more than your average teenage gamer, he had never competed in a tournament and had barely any experience driving a normal car. The first time he took his beat-up 1991 BMW E30 onto the highway it was on the way to the competition.
Mardenborough’s outlook took a turn when he qualified for race camp and tried the track for the first time.
“After my first laps, when I got out of the car, I remember thinking, ‘I don’t want to go through life without experiencing that again,’” said Mardenborough, who worked as a producer for “Gran Turismo” and as a stuntman for his own character.
Mardenborough, played by Archie Madekwe, went through the first drafts of the script line by line.
Mardenborough last competed in May and is talking to teams about the possibility of competing in the United States next year. And he will still occasionally play Gran Turismo.
If you had to compete against your 19-year-old self in the game right now, who would win?
“Me,” he said with a competitive smile. “If I put in the amount of hours I put in then, considering my real-life experience, I would be faster.”
By: BRANDON YU
BBC-NEWS-SRC: http://www.nytsyn.com/subscribed/stories/6908878, IMPORTING DATE: 2023-09-26 21:50:09
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