68 laps at Monza in GPL - YES!!!

Yo! After two months of GPL-ing, I finally decided to have a go at Grand Prix race at Monza. 68 laps. Qualifying was a piece of cake. Two months of hotlapping rewarded me with a pole position. After a couple of start crashed where at worst 15 cars were demolished (!) , I finally survived the first lap. Better yet, I was nr 1. I held the first position until lap nr. 35, when a slight disaster occured in the Parabolica. I was about to brake pass a car one lap behind when my wheels locked up, and I slid off into the sand trap. A lead of 9 sec disappeared, and I suddenly found myself 8 seconds after the leader, Guerney. 6 laps before the finishing line, a passed Guerney in the Curva Grande. Again I was in the lead, a position I held for the rest of the race. I won by 2.68 seconds! I was completely exhausted after this thrilling experience. 1 hour 43 minutes of extreme consentration. My hands were trembling, and my arm pits were annoyingly wet. This game is demanding. In addition to struggling with a hugely overpowered car, you must fight a groving lack of concentration. One bad gear shift, and BOOM... You're out of the race with a blown engine. If consentration fails and you brake just a tad too late, you easily end up with a three wheeled car, and you are out of the race. Furthermore, patience pays. Overtaking needs to be planned. For a hotlapper like me, it is hard to accept having to wait for the right opportunity to pass. The guts keep telling me to pass immediately, while the brain is telling me to be patient. Luckily, the brain won this fight for my arm's and leg's attention. Winning at Grand Prix level fills me with pleasure. Now it is time to move on to another track. Jon

Congrats! A very impressive achievement! Training the mental state is indeed the hardest part

WOW!!! I can't wait till I get that good. If this sim is going to improve my ability to concentrate I've got yet another rationalization to spend a couple hours a day working on it <g>. Chris

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>Congrats! A very impressive achievement! >Training the mental state is indeed the hardest part >> Yo! >> After two months of GPL-ing, I finally decided to have a go at Grand Prix >> race at Monza. 68 laps. >> I was completely exhausted after this thrilling experience. 1 hour 43 >> minutes of extreme consentration. My hands were trembling, and my arm >pits >> were annoyingly wet.

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> Yo! > After two months of GPL-ing, I finally decided to have a go at Grand Prix > race at Monza. 68 laps. > Qualifying was a piece of cake. Two months of hotlapping rewarded me with a > pole position. > After a couple of start crashed where at worst 15 cars were demolished (!) , > I finally survived the first lap. Better yet, I was nr 1. > I held the first position until lap nr. 35, when a slight disaster occured > in the Parabolica. I was about to brake pass a car one lap behind when my > wheels locked up, and I slid off into the sand trap. A lead of 9 sec > disappeared, and I suddenly found myself 8 seconds after the leader, > Guerney. > 6 laps before the finishing line, a passed Guerney in the Curva Grande. > Again I was in the lead, a position I held for the rest of the race. I won > by 2.68 seconds! > I was completely exhausted after this thrilling experience. 1 hour 43 > minutes of extreme consentration. My hands were trembling, and my arm pits > were annoyingly wet. > This game is demanding. In addition to struggling with a hugely overpowered > car, you must fight a groving lack of concentration. One bad gear shift, and > BOOM... You're out of the race with a blown engine. If consentration fails > and you brake just a tad too late, you easily end up with a three wheeled > car, and you are out of the race. > Furthermore, patience pays. Overtaking needs to be planned. For a hotlapper > like me, it is hard to accept having to wait for the right opportunity to > pass. The guts keep telling me to pass immediately, while the brain is > telling me to be patient. Luckily, the brain won this fight for my arm's and > leg's attention. > Winning at Grand Prix level fills me with pleasure. Now it is time to move > on to another track. > Jon

You think that's tough, you should try a GP length race online! Then to top that off.. try it in an F3!! Every now and then a group of us get together and run a F3 GP online. Unfortunately the majority end up getting booted, but that still hasn't stopped us from doing it again :) -- ========================================= Mike Barlow of Barlow Racing? ========================================= http://members.xoom.com/BarlowRacing/ Racing online with the help of...... Race Communications Association Holodyne Engineering Mystic Music (have Your !!Name/Address!! placed here)

>I had that once... on the 68th lap, entering Parabolica, leading, >finish allmost in sight... CRASH!!! In the middle of the Parabolica >was an AI car driving very slow, he had a car failure, and there was >no way I could brake in time or avoid him. Even at the moment when it >happened, I found it actually quite funny :) I just tried a GP at Silverstone, and decided to drive the Cooper. I skipped qualifying, and from the back of the grid I fought my way into 4th place by lap 25. Both the Lotuses were out by this time and the first 4 (Brabham, Amon, Hulme, me) were covered by 3 seconds. It was looking like a great battle but on lap 31 we caught some traffic. I passed Hulme as he was blocked by Ickx, but at the next corner Ickx turned in and hit me, bending my suspension. As I tried to recover, I blew my engine! But for 30 laps it was great fun :-) I suppose the next step is a full season of GP's but I'll give that a miss for a while... -- Cheers! Graeme Nash

In article <jdfn4.1489$h8.68531@wards>, "idav" <[email hidden]> writes:

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>Well done Jon....!!!! > >A note from an journeyman pilot. > >GPL is the greatest gizmo for getting rid of those excess pounds of >flabbyness otherwise known as "the spare tyre". > >First time I did a full GP (Monza) and finished 15th :-( , felt as if my >legs were about to drop off and my shirt was ringing wet with nervous >sweat.....got up (owch!!), staggered around until I got my bearings and had >a stiff glass of the amber nectar to cool me down......whew!!!. > >By the way, am I the only one here who does this...? >

Nope. I've done 2 or 3 GP races each at Monza and Watkins Glen. I also ran a GP at Spa this past week. I won one of the GPs at Monza, and at least finished in the top 10 in the others. Maybe I'll run the other tracks now...(thanks a LOT, idav<g>) See you guys next WEEK... :) Eldred -- Tiger Stadium R.I.P. 1912-1999 Own Grand Prix Legends? Goto http://gpl.gamestats.com/vroc Never argue with an idiot. He brings you down to his level, then beats you with experience... Remove SPAM-OFF to reply.

congrats here also. I've also acheived the same satisfaction of completing a full gp and winning at monza. Two other full gp's I've done are Kyalami and Spa. Won at Kyalami and 5th at Spa. How were your nerves on the last lap? Unless you've done a full gp, you don't know the feeling of relief and e***ment of actually lasting the full distance. Congrats again. well done. Steve

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> Congrats! A very impressive achievement! > Training the mental state is indeed the hardest part > > Yo! > > After two months of GPL-ing, I finally decided to have a go at Grand

Prix > > race at Monza. 68 laps. > > I was completely exhausted after this thrilling experience. 1 hour 43 > > minutes of extreme consentration. My hands were trembling, and my arm > pits > > were annoyingly wet.

Great stuff! Nice to share your experience. Andrew :~)

I had that once... on the 68th lap, entering Parabolica, leading, finish allmost in sight... CRASH!!! In the middle of the Parabolica was an AI car driving very slow, he had a car failure, and there was no way I could brake in time or avoid him. Even at the moment when it happened, I found it actually quite funny :) Andre On Sun, 6 Feb 2000 05:47:55 +1030, "steve whitty"

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> How were your nerves on the last lap? >Unless you've done a full gp, you don't know the feeling of relief and >e***ment of actually lasting the full distance. >Congrats again. well done. >Steve

Hey Mike Shall I tell ya how it feels to finish one <G> MS > > Yo! > > After two months of GPL-ing, I finally decided to have a go at Grand Prix > > race at Monza. 68 laps. > > Qualifying was a piece of cake. Two months of hotlapping rewarded me with a > > pole position. > > After a couple of start crashed where at worst 15 cars were demolished (!) , > > I finally survived the first lap. Better yet, I was nr 1. > > I held the first position until lap nr. 35, when a slight disaster occured > > in the Parabolica. I was about to brake pass a car one lap behind when my > > wheels locked up, and I slid off into the sand trap. A lead of 9 sec > > disappeared, and I suddenly found myself 8 seconds after the leader, > > Guerney. > > 6 laps before the finishing line, a passed Guerney in the Curva Grande. > > Again I was in the lead, a position I held for the rest of the race. I won > > by 2.68 seconds! > > I was completely exhausted after this thrilling experience. 1 hour 43 > > minutes of extreme consentration. My hands were trembling, and my arm pits > > were annoyingly wet. > > This game is demanding. In addition to struggling with a hugely overpowered > > car, you must fight a groving lack of concentration. One bad gear shift, and > > BOOM... You're out of the race with a blown engine. If consentration fails > > and you brake just a tad too late, you easily end up with a three wheeled > > car, and you are out of the race. > > Furthermore, patience pays. Overtaking needs to be planned. For a hotlapper > > like me, it is hard to accept having to wait for the right opportunity to > > pass. The guts keep telling me to pass immediately, while the brain is > > telling me to be patient. Luckily, the brain won this fight for my arm's and > > leg's attention. > > Winning at Grand Prix level fills me with pleasure. Now it is time to move

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> > on to another track. > > Jon > You think that's tough, you should try a GP length race online! Then > to top that off.. try it in an F3!! Every now and then a group of us > get together and run a F3 GP online. Unfortunately the majority end up > getting booted, but that still hasn't stopped us from doing it again :) > -- > ========================================= > Mike Barlow of Barlow Racing? > ========================================= > http://members.xoom.com/BarlowRacing/ > Racing online with the help of...... > Race Communications Association > Holodyne Engineering > Mystic Music > (have Your !!Name/Address!! placed here)

Well done Jon....!!!! A note from an journeyman pilot. GPL is the greatest gizmo for getting rid of those excess pounds of flabbyness otherwise known as "the spare tyre". First time I did a full GP (Monza) and finished 15th :-( , felt as if my legs were about to drop off and my shirt was ringing wet with nervous sweat.....got up (owch!!), staggered around until I got my bearings and had a stiff glass of the amber nectar to cool me down......whew!!!. By the way, am I the only one here who does this...? When I've finished a race and have gone to bed, I lie there running through every ***y lap in my head....should have done this, should of done that....maybe if I add a twist here an extra cog there......instead of counting sheep, I seem to spend my time counting how many times I've been lapped er....by the way, my record is 4 times. Is that bad..? Only when the wife sticks my joystick into 1st gear do I stop thinking of G P ***y L. But thats another story..:-) But the feeling of actually finishing a race is one of pure elation and is terrific, spent the rest of the afternoon grinning like an idiot lying back in my chair smoking a ceegar with the missus rolling her eyes saying I should put that much effort into my sex-life - ?? - have to think about that one. Still, well done. From someone who hasn't even come close to winning a race.....but damn it, its fun trying.!!! idav.

> Hey Mike > Shall I tell ya how it feels to finish one <G> > MS The last one I was close to finishing that one!! I was Three laps down till I boo-boo'ed in T7. Even after crashing and exiting the race, I ended up third and only 18 laps down. I was so.... close and fully intending on finishing. Of course the others are a different story. The Glen GP in F1, although I was fast (1:05's) I had most of the graphics turned off at very low res. and I was hosting giving me quite a few screen stutters. I **WILL** finish the next one and with luck, in first place!

[email hidden] (idav) wrote in <jdfn4.1489$h8.68531@wards>:

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>But the feeling of actually finishing a race is one of pure elation and is >terrific, spent the rest of the afternoon grinning like an idiot lying back >in my chair smoking a ceegar with the missus rolling her eyes saying I >should put that much effort into my sex-life - ?? - have to think about that >one. >From someone who hasn't even come close to winning a race.....but damn it, >its fun trying.!!! > >idav.

And this is the point that people seemed to miss with GPL. The quality of the challenge. With every other driving game/sim so far I've gotten to the point where I could win all the time, at which point I've lost interest. life is way more interesting when your a challenged loser than a constant winner. -- Don Scurlock Vancouver,B.C.

Eldred? You finished and won a full 68lap GP at Monza? This really surprised me, I thought you were one of the fanatic-but-a-little-bit-slower-than-most-other-driver-out-here kind of guy... Or did you use AITweak to turn the AI down? Clark allways drives low 1:28 laps, and it takes me a great effort to keep up with him for 68 laps... Andre

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>Nope. I've done 2 or 3 GP races each at Monza and Watkins Glen. I also ran a >GP at Spa this past week. I won one of the GPs at Monza, and at least finished >in the top 10 in the others. >Maybe I'll run the other tracks now...(thanks a LOT, idav<g>) >See you guys next WEEK... :) > >Eldred

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>Eldred? You finished and won a full 68lap GP at Monza? This really >surprised me, I thought you were one of the >fanatic-but-a-little-bit-slower-than-most-other-driver-out-here kind >of guy... >Or did you use AITweak to turn the AI down? Clark allways drives low >1:28 laps, and it takes me a great effort to keep up with him for 68 >laps... >Andre

Whoops, my bad. No, I'm still slower. That one race was against an 'inverted AI' field. Meaning basically, I was racing only against the lower half. I forgot about that - it's been a while...<blushes> Against the full field(all the other races), I've been anywhere from 6th or 7th to 15th or 16th. It depends on how reliable the Lotii are that day, usually. :) My last GP race at Spa(thursday), I finished 7th, 1 lap down. Sunday at Silverstone, I had 'inherited' positions up to 8th(2 laps down), until I screwed up on lap 54. No, I still can't beat a full field, even if they ARE 'un-hyped'... :) I don't want to 'tweak' them - I just don't want them to get FASTER... Although, I *did* win a 6-lap race against a full field(lapped traffic helped). I don't think I could've kept up that pace for a GP, though. Eldred(I know, back to the track...) -- Tiger Stadium R.I.P. 1912-1999 Own Grand Prix Legends? Goto http://gpl.gamestats.com/vroc Never argue with an idiot. He brings you down to his level, then beats you with experience... Remove SPAM-OFF to reply.

Even though you raced against an inverted AI, still a big achievent, driving 68 laps constanly is very demanding! Andre

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>>Eldred? You finished and won a full 68lap GP at Monza? This really >>surprised me, I thought you were one of the >>fanatic-but-a-little-bit-slower-than-most-other-driver-out-here kind >>of guy... >>Or did you use AITweak to turn the AI down? Clark allways drives low >>1:28 laps, and it takes me a great effort to keep up with him for 68 >>laps... >>Andre >Whoops, my bad. No, I'm still slower. That one race was against an 'inverted >AI' field. Meaning basically, I was racing only against the lower half. I >forgot about that - it's been a while...<blushes> >Against the full field(all the other races), I've been anywhere from 6th or 7th >to 15th or 16th. It depends on how reliable the Lotii are that day, usually. >:) My last GP race at Spa(thursday), I finished 7th, 1 lap down. Sunday at >Silverstone, I had 'inherited' positions up to 8th(2 laps down), until I >screwed up on lap 54. No, I still can't beat a full field, even if they ARE >'un-hyped'... :) I don't want to 'tweak' them - I just don't want them to get >FASTER... >Although, I *did* win a 6-lap race against a full field(lapped traffic helped). > I don't think I could've kept up that pace for a GP, though. >Eldred(I know, back to the track...) >-- >Tiger Stadium R.I.P. 1912-1999 >Own Grand Prix Legends? Goto http://gpl.gamestats.com/vroc >Never argue with an idiot. He brings you down to his level, then beats you >with experience... >Remove SPAM-OFF to reply.

I've only done full races at Monza, Watkins, and now Spa and Silverstone (crashed on lap 54). Maybe I'll run a GP-length season... Eldred -- Tiger Stadium R.I.P. 1912-1999 Own Grand Prix Legends? Goto http://gpl.gamestats.com/vroc Never argue with an idiot. He brings you down to his level, then beats you with experience... Remove SPAM-OFF to reply.