The best driving sim just got better, with Top Gear stuff thrown in!

“We at Polyphony are great fans of the world’s best motoring programme, Top Gear, so we’re delighted to be collaborating with BBC Worldwide to deliver Top Gear content via Gran Turismo,” said Kazunori Yamauchi, President, Polyphony Digital, “We’re sure that players will be as thrilled as we are when they get the chance to put their own driving skills to the test on the Top Gear Test Track in GT5, as well as enjoying classic episodes of Top Gear via GT TV.”

More info at FinalGear.com.

A forumer over at Gen[M]ay’s Photography and Imaging forum was out for a bite to eat when he chanced upon the filming of Top Gear and the STIG!

To the uninitiated, the Stig is Top Gear’s test driver. The driver who gives cars reviewed on Top Gear a faceless but thorough whacking on Top Gear’s test track.

He didn’t remove his helmet until he was driven off. They managed to get a side profile view of him. Any idea who he is?

RTM is the official Formula 1 broadcaster in Malaysia for 2007.

Anyone care to tell me why the Malaysian government has cared to spend millions of Ringgit building the Sepang F1 track only to have RTM show us delayed telecasts of the races? Yes, the race was covered live for Sepang… but what’s the point in only having live coverage for the Malaysian race when the other races aren’t covered live? It’s a long championship which isn’t won or lost in a single race for pete’s sake!

Malaysia is already struggling to keep the race as it is with Singapore coming up with a night street race. Bernie Ecclestone was clearly putting the pressure on Sepang when he said that the facilities are starting to look like they need a bit of fixing up.

Let’s not forget that RTM gets its commentary from the excellent team at ITV over in the UK. Former F1 driver Martin Brundle and James Allen provide an excellent insight into F1 that even Starsports can’t offer over on Astro. This is one of RTM’s trump cards, but does it recognise it?

So, if RTM keeps screening the races at midnight, how is it going to drum up support for Formula 1 in general in Malaysia? So what if it clashes with the news slot? Who cares? If I wanted to watch news, I’d go to the other terrestrial channels. It’s not like RTM’s news coverage is any good anyhow!

While we’re on the topic of F1 and RTM, what’s the thing with cutting to race highlights when the drivers are popping the champaign on the podium? Were they drunk while driving? What is it? Enlighten me… Not that RTM displays any sort of F1 knowledge in any sense of the word, they even cut the podium ceremony in Bahrain, where the celebratory drink isn’t even alcoholic!

Buck up RTM!