Novice drivers and trolls have plagued online race lobbies since the beginning of time and there's been little that could be done to curb poor drivers that sabotage otherwise competitive races. However, Kazunori Yamauchi is looking to change this in the upcoming Gran Turismo Sport.
The official FIA motorsport governing body has worked closely with Polyphony Digital to deliver a full FIA licensed racing campaign for Gran Turismo Sport players to compete in. To make the Gran Turismo Sport x FIA racing season more than just a marketing gimic (and it should never be mistakened for a marketing gimic with the FIA), Kazunori announced that a special FIA digital license will be necessary to participate in the races, just like how real FIA racing licenses are required to participated in the real racing events.
The requirements to earn, and the privelege to keep, the digital FIA license are actually pretty demanding. While the details of the license are not finalized, the tentative conditions, via GTPlanet, to obtain and hold onto an FIA license are as follows:
- Completion of GT Sport’s “Racing Etiquette Mode”, which includes guides and tests on the following: Signals / Flags / Safety Car protocols / Cautions / Proper driving conduct and etiquette
- Acheive “silver” or better results in all of GT Sport’s “Campaign Mode” events
- Maintain a certain level of Driver Class and Sportsmanship Points
Finally, players may also be required to pay a licensing to the governing body of motorsport of their country. Although we're not a fan of this, this could be an avoidable requirement due to the economy of professional motorsports racing. This also goes to show that Kazunori is pushing greater depths in the relationship of racing simulator and real-life motorsports than ever before.
Stay tuned as we learn more about Gran Turismo Sport and its digital FIA license in the future.
