Maybe they made it to the finals because they can adapt themselves to different situations? If the game is rubbish and allows you to race like that, why not? As long as you know how to race for real, this is just a shitty test you have to pass in order to go further... And that's probably one of the reasons I always get fairly good results in GT Academy but never make it to the next rounds, because I try to drive realistically in a game that is not realistic enough instead of drifting and breaking traction like the quickest guys do...