Dubai based gamer and our very own in-house PlayStation 4 gaming recruit, who wishes only to be identified by his PS4 gamer i.d, Raaik207, won the inaugural PlayStation GTSport UK Media Cup. Let us remind you that it was a totally dominant victory as he led from start to finish in a BMW M4 Coupe. Let us also remind you this victory was secured in the highly competitive digital realm of E-Sports gaming.
Since that famous victory, Raaik207 has developed a taste for winning notching up 51 victories so far, 46 victories as Raaik207 and 5 more victories under the guise of a different PS4 i.d
We caught up with Raaik207 for a Q&A, and hopefully to get an insight into how to win on GT Sport.
DCB.) Did you ever expect to win the PlayStation GT Sport UK Media Cup?
Raaik207.) “Honestly no, prior to winning the UK Media Cup, I banned myself from gaming for a number of years. Doing so allowed me to rediscover the real world with its sunlight, trees, flowers, honey bees and if you live in the UK, intemperate weather. DCB.) So how did you prepare for the PlayStation UK Media Cup?
Raaik207.) “Practice, and more practice, I think because I have played mainly on car-sim games getting back into that driving mindset was fairly easy, second nature. But I still expected to qualify and finish at the back. I know some of the opponents on the day had steering wheel setups, I just had a PS4 controller“.DCB.) You won by a significant margin, how did you manage that?
Raaik207.) “I really don’t know, I cant say, I just practiced for an hour before the event, I actually joined the qualifying session late, panicked because I was running out of time and made an error on my first quali-run. Then I opted to run at a slower pace to get a good lap time, build up a rhythm. At this point, I was still thinking at least I would qualify somewhere near the back of the field and enjoy the experience of not winning.”DCB.) Oh come on you must have had some confidence in winning!?
Raaik207.) “I was confident of finishing and making a mess, going off the circuit, that sort of thing, then, during quali, I started to set fast times, nearly 2 seconds faster than everyone else and thought, what’s going on here. During the race, I had a simple strategy and kept to it and won by a very, very comfortable margin”.“But the BMW M4 was difficult to control and drive with the PS4 controller, no changes were made to the standard settings. So I had turn-in oversteer under braking and oversteer on exit. Every lap I was expecting to be in the gravel trap, but in the end, I found a way of driving around these issues”.DCB.) You have now won 51 races on GT Sport, did you ever expect to win so many?
Raaik207.) “No, I know how competitive online racing is and to begin with I was surprised how brutal it can be especially on GT Sport. For example, I find that a lot of German players tend to crash you out of the race. The Italians tend to brake test you on the straights, therefore causing you to spin and crash and the Spanish gamers are mad. The Nordic nations and the Brits are fair but sometimes you do find – on the British side – Millwall supporters have infiltrated the game”.“I won a lot of races early on when you could make setup changes but then GT Sport stopped gamers doing so. But I still continued to win. Sometimes the competition is so fierce that I am simply unable to match the pace set by other gamers. I have been nearly 3 seconds off pole! Even so, I can still manage to finish in the top 5 or top 3. All of my wins have been accumulated by using the PS4 controller, I know a steering wheel setup can gain you seconds, but I have gotten used to the controller”.DCB.) What is the best race you competed in?
Raaik207.) “I can’t remember the actual circuit, I think it was Monza, I started 13th on the grid, could not set a decent time in qualifying and I ended up winning. That was a hugely satisfying win because I made clean passes and avoided players who tried to crash me out of the race”.DCB.) I Notice you compete under the flag of Dubai, is there a reason for that?
Raaik207.) “Yes I was working in Dubai when I purchased the PS4 so the console is registered in the territory. I love Dubai and have no problem winning under the flag of this great Arab nation, the culture is amazing and the weather is perfect, I have friends over there and returning, even for a brief visit is always a pleasure”. “I don’t expect to contacted by a Dubai E-Sports team because the choice of gamers is huge. If I have 51 race victories than I can imagine other players unknown to me have notched up close to 100 race victories or more. I always think that there is someone else better than me, then I think how can I beat them”?“That’s the upside of the brutally competitive nature of E-Sports, to out-compete your opponent when you do beat someone who is faster it’s extremely satisfying. Every victory feels like the first.”DCB.) Do you have any tips for GT Sport players on how to win their first race?
Raaik207.) “Yes, keep cool under pressure, develop a strategy and stick to it, and when that doesn’t work make sure you have a plan B. Plan B is to sit back and watch other players crash one another out of contention. If you don’t win then learn how to drive fast by driving slow at first and then build up your speed gradually. Setting a fast time is as much about braking technique as much as it is about maximum speed.”
