Celebrity Appearances
NASCAR champion Jeff Gordon appears in the game as a mentor to the player, guiding them in the skills of slipstreaming specific to the sport. Eight-time rally world champion Sébastien Loeb and F1 world champion Sebastian Vettel appear in similar roles in their portions of the game, providing advice and encouragement in a series of challenges. Other cars in the game are named after rally driver Tommi Mäkinen, drivers Carl Edwards and Kyle Busch, and personalities Shuichi Shigeno and Jay Leno. Voice overs were recorded by Justin Bell, Tony Jardine and Robert Reid. One of the game's testers, listed in the credits, was Tomei Sports/Porsche racing driver Takashi Ohi.
On September 5, 2011, Martin Brundle and Jonathan Legard commentated on a race between David Coulthard, driving a real Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG around the Top Gear test track, and 6 leading Gran Turismo players, racing on a console at Mercedes-Benz World. Coulthard won, with Jason Birt trailing by half a second. Reggie Yates, Pollyanna Woodward and Mike Bushell also took part in the race, but did not qualify for the leader board. Coulthard's lap was subsequently available to download for players to race against.
In partnership with Alpinestars, a downloadable pack released in October 2011 features replica helmets and overalls worn by drivers such as Tony Stewart, Jimmie Johnson, Petter Solberg, Mikko Hirvonen and The Stig.
In January 2013, Johnny Herbert mentored 6 players in a primetime ITV4 reality series, with the aim of taking them to the Dubai 24 Hour race as real drivers.
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Famous quotes containing the words celebrity and/or appearances:
“My great comfort is, that the temporary celebrity I have wrung from the world has been in the very teeth of all opinions and prejudices. I have flattered no ruling powers; I have never concealed a single thought that tempted me.”
—George Gordon Noel Byron (1788–1824)
“What I often forget about students, especially undergraduates, is that surface appearances are misleading. Most of them are at base as conventional as Presbyterian deacons.”
—Muriel Beadle (b. 1915)