First, the good news: In 2015, Terence Lallave was one of the six finalists from the Philippines to qualify for the first-ever Nissan GT Academy Asia held at the legendary Silverstone race track in the United Kingdom. This year, he has qualified to be one of the drivers from the Asia/Oceania region invited to attend the “Gran Turismo World Tour 2018 Salzburg,” which will be held at Red Bull’s Hangar 7 located in Salzburg, Austria from September 20 to 23 where he will compete against other players in the world. According to Polyphony Digital, the creator of the popular Gran Turismo racing game and series and the organizer of the event, Lallave was chosen because of his “excellent results during the ‘FIA GT Gran Turismo Online Championships 2018 Series Season 1 & Season 2.'”

Now, the bad news: Lallave has been disqualified by a technicality; but not of his making though, but of Polyphony Digital itself.

When the Gran Turismo Sport video game for the PlayStation 4 (PS4) gaming console was released in October 2017, one of its most notable features was the “FIA Gran Turismo Online Championship” which allows players globally to compete against one another in two different series online: the Nations Cup, and the Manufacturer Fan Cup. What makes the two series stand out is that both will be overseen by the Fédération Internationale de l’Automobile (FIA), the “governing body for world motor sport and the federation of the world’s leading motoring organizations.”

Now, the problem with the online racing series is that it’s limited to countries that have its own PlayStation Network (PSN)–which the Philippines doesn’t have–which is why local players are forced to register their account in countries or territories which has one like Hong Kong. So Lallave, in his desire to play the game and participate in the racing series, was forced to register his PSN account with the autonomous territory owned by China.

Fast forward to August 27 when Lallave received that fateful email from Polyphony Digital, which he replied to, saying that he is honored and interested to join the event. By August 31 though, probably through some sleuthing on who the compatriots he will be competing against are, one Hong Kong resident found out that Lallave is actually a Filipino flying the Hong Kong flag in the series–through no fault of his own, of course, but simply of the limitations given him.





As expected, hate and vitriol were thrown against Lallave by other Hong Kong residents, with one saying that all Hong Kong players will report the issue to the “GT sport official” while another said that Lallave himself should be banned from participating in the Gran Turismo World Tour and by the FIA itself.

Dear Mr. Lallave,

If you tried use your HKG psn and try your luck to represent HKG to GT world tour / FIA events, just kindly let you know, all mainstream HKG players are gonna report this issue to GT sport official. We only need real HK players. Cheers — Winson Wong (@WinsonWong13) September 1, 2018









Lallave, of course, defended himself, saying that he was forced to register his account with the Hong Kong PSN, like “most Filipino PSN gamers,” since the Philippines doesn’t have its own PSN network. Yet while the attack against Lallave continued, he remained undeterred.

“I hope that you guys stand by (the) GT Sport motto ‘Driving is for everyone.’ I have qualified with all my best efforts and dedication to your game,” Lallave said in a tweet to the Gran Turismo Sport Online Management Team. To the Hong Kong players, he said, “I would like to apologize to all Hong Kong GT Sport drivers. I would like to clear that it is not my fault there is no Philippine PSN account ever since (the) PSN was launched. I have put 100-percent effort and determination in the FIA races and it’s disappointing that all of you think of me that way.”

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