Thanks Dave. Sure enough the log showed that the GPU was basically asleep, dumping all the graphics load onto the CPU. With things as they were I was contemplating avoiding qualification for this race and starting at the back of the grid, so that I could abort if the graphics were too bad.
In the hour before the race I had another go at solving the problem.
A little digging in the Nvidia control panel found the list of supported programmes and it showed that GTL was there, but not GPL, which explains why one game was good and the other very poor.
I browsed to the Sierra directory and added the GPL65.exe to the list ( I will add the other .exe's now that I know it all works ) and ran through the settings that were applied as default, upgrading them to match Axel's posted levels. When I joined the race I was relieved to see that I had an absolutely solid 60.04 fps showing, regardless of traffic or scenery.
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As for the race. A great grid with many visitors from other leagues which was good to see for this Moss memorial race.
Grats to the podium places and all finishers. There was some great racing last night right down through the field.
I opted for the slowest car in the pack the screaming BT7 to do battle against a swarm of Coopers at the sharp end. My hopes were not high as pure horsepower does make a difference around Goodwood with those long fast sections. Also, with all the fannying around with the graphics I had not had the time to fine tune the setup, so there were areas where handling was suspect....especially at St Mary's!! which was buttock clenching on each lap.
I was just a little slow on Lap 1 to hook up the tow to the fast guys up front and I had Greg breathing down my neck in the early laps. Gradually I eased away from Greg and caught a recovering Raonni. But, the Cooper had just a little too much grunt and I could not hold on to him even with the slipstream.
I picked up a few places as drivers had incidents ahead and towards the end of the race I caught Raonni again and chased hard for a few laps until approaching St Mary's there was a car high in the air. It was an airborne backmarker, and I was not sure what happened but I was not sure where they would land and the combination of uncertainty and dodgy handling sent my car onto the grass
I lost a few places and just did not have the speed to regain them, Doni was making a late surge behind, so I had to keep things tidy to the end.
Thanks to all who organised, took part and to those who built the new Goodwood Circuit.
