From all the racing games I've played its carved into my brain that if your not first, it's basically considered a loss.  In GT5 though I'm beginning to accept that getting in 1st is not always possible.  Sometimes the AI will bump you, or just in general have faster cars.  The learning curve isn't just in the ability to race properly, but in learning every track, understanding the car you have, upgrades you might need, and the competition on the track.  GT5 is the first racing game I've ever "appreciated" the underlying depth that goes into each race.  And that buying a stock Dodge Viper R/T and jumping into a race probably isn't going to instantly get me the win, just because I spent a lot of money.  My friend played a slow race with some used Honda and was spinning out a lot, and going slow.  So we put new oil and racing tires on it for increased grip.  He got 1st the next race, never spun out.

You will fucking hate Vettel's challenge at lv 30.

Getting a podium is all that matters. Sometime you cannot always be first, but the game still counts you as finishing races and events if you at least get bronze. Not at lvl 30 yet, but god I hope I don't need to Gold that to get Redbull's wetdream car. 

Actually if you always buy the most expensive possible car and tune that up then you will win everything.

I actually learned this lesson from Forza 1 back in the day. However do far with GT I've been going for all firsts in Licenses and Special races in addition to the Specs. And so far I'm on that track! I don't expect it to last beyond the amateur races though.

I've been sticking with Licenses and Special races too. It definitely starts out easy, but gets progressively more difficult. Something as simple as a braking and turning test becomes a pain because you're .1 (or even .001 GAH!) of a second late. And of course you keep trying until you get more and more frustrated, thereby making your times even worse. I still rock at Rally though, so at least that's something.

This was a lesson I learnt with GT2 thankfully, I am used to accepting at least a Bronze in certain challenges.

" Actually if you always buy the most expensive possible car and tune that up then you will win everything. "