Thanks to to SimcoeAce for suggesting the race and to Ardius for starting the thread and putting it all together.
I was watching the ALMS race from Mosport until a few minutes before start time and sitting at the edge of my seat as the battle between the F430GT2 from Risi and the C6R GT2 Corvette went nose to tail for practically the entire last hour. And boy did it get me in the mood to race on-line.
I was quite excited and encouraged to see that there were 6 Lobbies already opened and only 2 of them were with the F430. So perhaps the big spike in sales over the last month is encouraging others to join in the fun.
But rather than make an open lobby I decided to keep it private to make sure anybody from GTPlanet had a chance to join in.
I sent a few other people I saw on-line on my friend list an invite but there were no takers. I sent a request to Saarinen69 (Mhailwood) but realized he wasn't on my friend list and I'm sure not 100% certain he received the invite. I'll add him next time I log in).
With that I have to say, we entered into 2 & 1/2 hours of excellent, high quality racing with no stability problems and virtually no lag. I can't say enough about how impressed I am with Ferrari Challenge (when it works correctly and everybody has a stable connection). It provides a tool for superb, side by side, on-line racing that's simply a joy from start to finish. And I hope as some of us transition over to Supercar Challenge that it provides an even better platform for our favorite hobby.
I'll get through this quickly as I have an early day tomorrow myself:
Race 1 - Spa - 20 minutes - dry:
1. SimcoeAce
2. JJaisli
3. Vincent
4. Ardius
5. GTP_Hun
Biggles really has this track down. I was able to pass him for the lead after he made a mistake and hold it for many laps. But a small mistake at Fanges allowed him to make up about a second and before long he was by. His pace clearly showed, being nearly .75 faster than me on this fastest lap. Most of the rest had very competitive times as well. In general, he seemed to make up time around Puhon and I pulled away at La Source.
Race 2 - Mugello - 20 minutes - wet:
1. SimcoeAce
2. JJaisli
3. Vincent
4. Ardius
5. GTP_Hun
Ferrari Challenge really does a respectable job of simulating wet conditions. I thought I had this race in hand until a brief off allowed Biggles to get by and from that point, I was never really in contention again. My lap times were pretty competitive (I think I even had the fastest lap) but Biggles was simply too consistent.
Race 3 - Mont Tremblant - 20 minutes - dry:
1. Vincent
2. GTP_Hun
3. JJaisli
4. SimcoeAce
5. Aridus
If only. Looking at the lap times, this is a race I should have won. This is probably my favorite track and lap 7 was enough to secure me the 3rd fastest time on the leaderboards behind Segel--no easy feat. But in an overeager move to get on Vincent's rear, I put a wheel on the grass on the very first corner and slid off.
In a feat of pure embarrassment, I repeated the move again several laps later and lost nearly 10 seconds getting back on the road. If the race had gone on for 1 more lap, I MAY have been able to grab second. Could of should of would have.
Easy to say now. But it's a tough track to pass.
Race 4 - Silverstone - 20 minutes - wet:
1. SimcoeAce
2. GTP_Hun
3. Vincent
4. Ardius
5. JJaisli
As I've never had good rhythm at this track, the result was expected. But aside from a blistering pace by Vincent (fastest lap by a country mile) and the outright win by SimcoeAce, I dont't think any of us truly distinguished ourselves here. Lots of rather sloppy driving all around. Had Saarinen or PiotrB or Zedux joined us for this race, we probably all would have been lapped.
Race 5 - Redwood Park (Circuit Gilles Villeneuve) - 20 minutes - dry:
1. JJaisli
2. Vincent
3. SimcoeAce
4. GTP_Hun
5. Adrius (DNS)
What Silverstone is to me, Redwood Park is to SimcoeAce. And it's not an ideal track because like Monza and California Speedway, there are several areas where you can blatantly cut corners and not get a penalty. It may not be my favorite track. But I just seem to have this track down. Completely. It flows like milk into a glass and it always gives me a good feeling to hit the curbs and sail through the chicanes, "just right". Unfortunately, Ardius had to turn in so it was just the four of us left.
Using the current FIA F1 points system, the totals come out as follows:
1. SimcoeAce with 41 points
2. A tie JJaisli/Vincent with 36 points
4. GTP_Hun with 29 points
5. Ardius with 26 points (although keep in mind he did not take part in the final race)
Thanks again to all those who participated for a night of good, clean, enjoyable racing.