I Raced Against 70,000 People in GT7 to See How Fast I Am

As I was on the road on Thursday afternoon, I realized my PS5 was hundreds of miles away. Still, that didn't stop me from checking out the latest online Time Trial details. I was happy that Polyphony Digital had chosen one of my favorite tracks for the event: Spa-Francorchamps. But I was also surprised there was no car on the cover of the event. I was exhausted by all the real-world driving when I arrived home, but still eager to see what that was all about.

Interestingly, you can choose from 50 cars for this challenge, allowing you to experiment with vehicles that don't match your budget. Before diving into the challenge, I saw the results of my Le Mans Time Trial attempt. With a fast lap of 3:54.723, I finished in P 136,050 out of almost 153,000 players. It's my worst result yet, and I'm not proud. Still, it was good enough for a Bronze Record Reward, which added 250,000 credits to my balance.

Meanwhile, I've dropped almost 30,000 positions in the Barcelona challenge. But I'm still faster than nearly 70,000 drivers. Anyway, I decided to go shopping for some new cars again. The Suzuki V6 Escudo Pikes Peak Special felt tempting for a second, but at 1.7 million credits, it would have drained out most of my virtual bank account.

Testing New Cars

There wasn't anything particularly interesting in the used car lot, so I opted for another go at Brand Central. I missed the MX-5 and bought the Roadster NR-A (ND) for 31,000 credits. With just 130 horsepower on tap, you can imagine it wasn't fast around Spa. I still had fun with it, even though it took me 3:21.114 to lap the track using the controller.

I only drove for one lap with each car, as I wanted to move to the main event as fast as possible. My wife loves driving the Roadster in GT7, and it's a great car to practice in. Spending 100,000 credits more on the Porsche Cayman GT4 helped me shed 30 seconds off my first lap despite making several mistakes.

I haven't tried it with the steering wheel, but this could lap Spa in 2:35 or less, which is pretty impressive for a road-legal vehicle. I went for the 2017 Ford GT in triple yellow for my third pick. It wasn't cheap at 550,000 credits, and I expected a lot from it going into my first lap. Ultimately, it proved just 4 seconds faster than the Porsche, but it's quite a handful to control using the pad, not the wheel.

Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps Time Trial

Alas, I went in for the main event. Fifty hours into the time trial, a Spanish player is on top of the game with a fast lap of 2:16.547. Just 21 drivers have dipped below the 2:17 mark, but I'm sure this number will increase to 50 by the time it's over. User J. Serrano has won 25 Gold Record Rewards so far, so I'm aware it will take tens, if not hundreds, of hours of practice to come close to his level.

I have been driving at Spa for almost 10 years now, on and off, and it all started with Assetto Corsa. The 7,044-meter-long layout is quite fast but has its tricky technical sectors. Just by looking at the list of 50 cars, it was hard for me to decide which one to choose for the record. The first five that grabbed my attention were the Nissan Skyline Super Silhouette Group 5, the GT-R GT500 '99, the Dodge Viper SRT GT3-R '15, and the McLaren F1 GTR - BMW '95.

I was shocked at how capable the '80s Skyline was as I stopped the clock at 2:41.438 using the pad. Switching to the more modern GT500, I was instantly six seconds faster, as it's much easier to drive.

I improved by two more seconds when I moved to the Dodge Viper, and there's so much grunt with this car! The McLaren F1 GTR proved to be the most exciting drive, and I was almost shocked to see I lapped the track in 2:29.959. It was already good enough for the Bronze Record Reward, but 50,000 drivers were still ahead of me.

Switching to the Logitech G29 wheel, I immediately improved by two seconds, but I felt I needed a more modern car to go faster. Only three Gr.3 cars are inside my garage: the Corvette C7, the NSX GT500, and the Huracan GT3. The Lambo was blistering fast as it helped me reach a 2:23.940 lap. But driving the Mercedes-AMG GT3 '20 to a 2:22.948 was even easier.

I racked up almost 217 miles (350 km) of driving at Spa for this Time Trial. I tested two variations of the R8, the Ford GT Race Car and the Ferrari 458 Italia GT3. I saved the latter for my final attempt, and it was a pleasant surprise. I'm not saying the other cars are slow, but I feel right at home in the 458.

After a small mistake, I stopped the clock at 2:22.085, good enough to have me sitting in the Top 21,000 drivers worldwide. Going flat out through Eau Rouge and Turn 18 initially seems scary, but it's perfectly feasible. Sadly, I'm still 1.5 seconds away from the Gold Record Reward, but the following tutorial may help you reach that goal if you're patient enough.