Well I don't know about you chaps but I really enjoyed that little PnG journey!
Was planning to take the Cobra but being hopelessly slow in it and with no others for company I decided in practice to pick something I could hopefully mix it a bit with and went for the 911.
I don't know if the rest of you practiced the starts but with my gearing it was almost like having launch control, without the launch. No modulation needed on the throttle, just boot it, side step the clutch and make yourself comfortable for the mediocre run down to T1
. I'm guessing most had sussed this, including Ade who must've been a good car length ahead coming in to the first corner. Luckily for me he didn't close off the inside so I left it as late as I could on the stop pedal and somehow managed to get a nose in front by the apex. Have to admit looking at the replay, it was definitely a firm close of the door then going into T2 but definitely fair guvna honest!
Unfortunately I actually stitched myself up as Ade lost a bit of momentum and a couple of places so never got to have a proper battle but hopefully next time! Luckily for me Legz was on fine form in the opening stages and was keeping the pressure up nicely just behind me and it took a good few laps to eek out anything resembling a gap.
After that I tried to get my head down and chase the leading pair but in those beautiful GT40's it did feel a bit like urinating into the wind quite honestly. Probably should have kept on it with hindsight but I switched off a bit with big gaps either side and ended up parking myself in the sand pit for a moment letting the squabbling Legz and API through and rejoining in front of Mr. Gymer. Must've been the wake up call I needed Dave, as that first one in front of you was my fastest lap of the race!
Had a good little tussle with Legz before he overcooked it ever so slightly, leaving the door open for me at T4 I think it is (sharpish hairpin) - giving me the initiative to try and catch API who was slowly disappearing off. Think this was about lap 12 so with no hope of catching Matt I made a point of not going crazy and just tried to reel API in nice and calmly and without any input from the sandpit! Took quite some doing but eventually I got a sweet run out of the last corner which was enough to get me a headlight lens' depth in front into T1
and enough to nab the place back - which was second by that time thanks to Lele's misfortunes. API kept the pressure up and had me missing apexes etc but eventually I managed to find a rhythm and maintain my spot. With FL tyre wear on 10.0 the car just felt sweet, with only the odd reminder here and there that the back end wasn't always completely willing to play ball if you got a bit physical with it.
I'd almost forgotten why this game is so good - the handling characteristics are superb, i really found I had to adjust my driving style but it was good stuff - clearly it's more sensitive to setup changes but it's not just that side of things - the graphics really are just heavenly as Andy C mentioned on the grid. On the replay, even the snot green Porsche looked fantastic. With the white writing on the tyre walls you could see as I came into certain corners, T5 and even the uphill chicane, the unloaded front wheel would stop dead ever so slightly for a second while it lost contact with the tarmac and then quickly get back up to speed as the suspension let it drop again - think I'm babbling now, I love these silly bits of detail LOL.
Thanks all for making that a quality plan B, good choice by the management to skip the GTL race given the probs and well done Matt/ API for pody finishes.
See that, a whole post and not one mention of tokens
