My deepest thanks to Roland Ehnstrom and his crew (Jussi, Phil, Dave,
Greger, et alia) for allowing us to experience first-hand the scope and
grandeur of this historic circuit. I've been playing it non-stop for a
week...and I can't wait to get back. What a layout! It's obviously built
for endurance (production-based sports cars) rather than sprinters (our
fragile single-seaters). Those long straights put a premium on top speed
rather than acceleration, and those agonizingly slow corners are more a
gruelling test of brakes than cornering ability. With GPL's relatively
modest top speeds (200 mph vs. the eventual 250-mph Vmax of the later
sports-prototypes) and fade-free brakes, I feel we've only scratched the
surface of what driving there for 24 hours must be like. The human stamina
required--what it takes to lash around there for a day and a night, in rain
and fog, in 60 disparate cars, for almost 400 laps, whilst avoiding any tiny
lapse that might beach you on one of those cloying sand traps at Arnage and
Mulsanne--is almost unimaginable. C'est magnifique!
As with their recreation of the much less ambitous Bugatti circuit, Roland
et Cie have again raised the bar to levels Papyrus only occasionally
achieved with the original 11 tracks. The detail and authenticity are
tremendous, from the famous white-painted tree trunks to the Bibendum-like
Esso figure greeting us as we approach the pit complex rising colossus-like
out of the French farmlands. What a labor of love! You guys have breathed
new life into a (nearly) 3-year-old game and deserve a permanent niche in
the GPL Hall of Fame. A Jeroboam of Perrier-Jouet for everyone onvolved! I
can't wait to see the real thing this weekend...but I know it won't be as
rewarding as what Roland and his colleagues have wrought. Salud!
--Steve Smith