If you’ve played your fair share of Gran Turismo games, the Grand Valley Speedway course may be very familiar to you. It has appeared in several games over the years, and has gone through a little trackside redesign to make the course more realistic – and in some ways, daunting – for Gran Turismo 4 and 5.
In Gran Turismo 6, it makes its return as the second course in the Amateur Cup. That said, this race is anything but easy, mainly because of the beasty design of the track itself. It’s approximately three miles in length, but you’ll be more concerned about the turns that come up, because there are a lot. We don’t mean casual 45-degree angle turns, either. There are several tight corners you’ll have to worry about, and it’s moderately easy to come leering off the tarmac into an off-road obstacle.
Luckily, we’re here to help with a guide that walks you through the entirely of the track. Let’s get started.
When you first begin the race, you’ve got a small piece of straight track ahead of you, enough to give you a proper rolling start on the first lap. From there, you’ll have a small left curve that you should be able to take without losing any hint of speed. The other cars will be keeping pace with you, so don’t worry about overtaking them right away.
Upon your first right turn you’ll see just how crazy the Grand Valley Speedway gets. This is a very tight turn, one that’ll take you around a full corner before evening back out again. For this turn, you’ll definitely want to have your driver aid arrows turned on, so you can see just what kind of speed to take it at. We’ve found that around 45-55 MPH isn’t bad, and you shouldn’t brake so much as letting off the accelerator, then gunning it again as you come out of the turn. Do this the proper way and you should stay on the track, perhaps even passing a car as you even out.
After that, you’ll have a straight route for a little bit, leading into a very slight left turn. Handle this with a proper speed and avoid losing your footing, as a car you passed may try to gain a spot on you. Following the small corner, you’ll have slight breathing room for a little bit.
It only lasts a few seconds, though. You’ll come across a really sharp right turn – even sharper than the first one you came across. Handle this at an even lower speed, around 40 MPH or so depending on the handling of the car. Coming out of the turn, don’t rest too easy. Get back up to speed, but prepare to take a loose left corner turn that lasts a little bit. Maintain balance between your accelerator and turning, and make sure you don’t slide off the road.
Once you come out of this small corner, prepare yourself for a quick right corner. Slow down if you have to, but don’t skid on the brakes. Combine between slow, steady braking and lifting off the accelerator, and then take the turn. Following that, you’re going to have yet another turn, this one left, leading into a tunnel. Take all the precaution you can on this turn, even if it means slowing down a bit more. Doing anything less will guarantee a quick meeting with the wall leading into the tunnel. Don’t worry so much on overtaking as much as staying on the track – remember, you’ll still have the second lap to catch up.
Heading into the tunnel, you’ll have a slight right turn as you go along, but no twists within it to worry about. When you come out, however, you’ll have a sharp left turn you’ll need to take, followed by a slightly less sharp right turn that leads into some straight track. Make sure you’ve got a good speed going, but not to the point that you’ll go off-road. Use deceleration and mild braking to get through these two corners.
You’re not through yet. Following the straight track, you’ll have one more moderate right turn to take, which you should be able to do at a pretty good speed. You’ll see it straighten up a bit, but then you’ll need to take two extremely tight turns in succession to one another. It’ll take you left first, then into a sharp right. Again, speed makes all the difference here, and you’ll want to make sure you ride the turns out at the proper angle. Otherwise, say hello to going off-road and assuredly losing a place in ranking.
Completing these nasty right turn, you only have one more small right corner to get through. Once you do, there’s the checkpoint. Get through it and repeat this process for the second lap, and you’ll complete the track.
You won’t find too many opportunities to overtake here, but you also don’t want to be greedy. Trying to gun it around corners could take you off the road completely, forcing you into a last place finish. Patience is everything here, as this is the most trying course in the Amateur cup. Keep at it, though, and victory will surely be yours.
Gran Turismo 6 is available now for PlayStation 3.
