Spoke too soon. I just needed to login to pSN for the gamesave to be recognized.
Now the question is what version of the game I am on. I had to install it and did not dl .10 update. Just for kicks.
I drove the vettel car around and noticed that the tyres are purple when you start driving and get hot a lot quicker, they also wear out faster. For example, before I had the console fixed I could do 30+ laps of tsukuba and I would run out of fuel whilst the tyres still had about 1/2 life. Now I can only do 31 laps and have to pit for tyres BUT I still have almost 1/2 fuel left!!!
Lap times are in the low 30s (except at the end when the car gets tail happy on braking)
I can only imagine. But I decided to install the updates and get on with the "tightarse's series". It took a few hours because the PS3 also needed an update. Total dl 1.3GB.
Now on lap 110 of the Tsukuba 9 hrs. Hopefully I will finish it this time. I tried about 6 times with the ailing console.... very frustrating....