The good ole days...

That was weird. I was on the N4 server at Sears Point reminiscing with George Sandman about the good old days of the GPL demo. At that time all the really fast boys hung out at a site called "The Apex" and the hot lap replays were stored there. All there was at that time was Watkins Glen, and the challenge was to see who could do a 1:06:xx lap first. I believe the first guy was Mark Reynolds, but I could be wrong. After awhile there were several people who did it. The lead for fast lap kept changing between them. The really fast guys I remember were Ian Lake, Mark Reynolds (?) Wolfgang Woeger, George Sandman, and Dave Mansell. But it was Dave Mansell who was pretty much unbeatable. After GPL came out, you would see him racing on VROC but then he disappeared. I was asking George Sandman what happened to him and he said he hadn't seen him in a long time. After the race at Sears Point I got on VROC and joined a race at Monza, and who was there but Dave Mansell! (fastest qualifier, even now) So Dave, where have you been hiding down there in the land of oz? Who else remembers the good old days? How about the excitement of finding out Monaco was going to be in the game? Remember that? I remember hitting refresh on my browser every few seconds waiting for this "really exciting news" that was supposed to be announced any minute now at The Apex. "Monaco will be in the game!" Well, like, now, big deal, who cares. But back then it was great news. I still have the pre-Monza GPL demo on an old hard drive somewhere. I'd like to see those old replays again now that I can manage the occasional 1:05:xx. Actually I'd like to see my replays cuz I don't remember what my times were. I just remember only being able to do maybe one or at the most two laps without crashing. Humm...things haven't changed much. -Tony-

I ran against a Dave Mansell tonight ...how odd you would mention him. I have no idea if that was your dave or not...but wierd eh? dave henrie "Tony Jester" <[email hidden]> wrote in message news:[email hidden]... > Dave Mansell. But it was Dave Mansell who was pretty much unbeatable.

"Tony Jester" <[email hidden]> wrote in message news:[email hidden]... > That was weird. I was on the N4 server at Sears Point reminiscing with > George Sandman about the good old days of the GPL demo.<snip>

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> Who else remembers the good old days? How about the excitement of > finding out Monaco was going to be in the game? Remember that? I > remember hitting refresh on my browser every few seconds waiting for > this "really exciting news" that was supposed to be announced any minute > now at The Apex. "Monaco will be in the game!" Well, like, now, big > deal, who cares. But back then it was great news. > > -Tony- >

Remember it like it was yesterday Tony. The night the demo came out and the world record that changed hands from Australian to Europe and then The U.S during each day for about the first month. I think it took Mansell about 2 or 3 months to hit that 105 lap and man what a lap that was he was sideways on the lip going into turn 4. I would really like to see that replay again one day. I chat with Mansell on ICQ now and then so Ill see if he still has a copy. GPL is starting to get a bit of history you might say, maybe someone should start collecting this history before it gets lost. For example I had the pleasure to race the first GPL World Series with all the people you mention as well as many others it was a 22 week season I raced 11am Saturday morning and 2 am Monday morning and only missed 1 race. It was Lake that finished the season ahead of Wolfi and George I was back in 6th picked off by Steve Eymann for 5th in the last race. I guess this was the first every online racing series. Looking back it was quite an amazing experience, before VROC we would gather on Randy Magruders ICQ a dozen or more of the best drivers in the world from all corners of the world and then race in real time. 2 and a half years latter I still get a buzz sitting on the grid in a league race and am still amazed that the car beside me is controlled by a human in front of a computer just like me. Todd.

In article <[email hidden]>, [email hidden] says... > Who else remembers the good old days? How about the excitement of > finding out Monaco was going to be in the game? Remember that? I > remember hitting refresh on my browser every few seconds waiting for > this "really exciting news" that was supposed to be announced any minute > now at The Apex. "Monaco will be in the game!" Well, like, now, big > deal, who cares. But back then it was great news. I remember the thrill when I first heard that GPL was being developed some 3 years before it actually came out! And the big news to me was hearing that the original, true Nurburgring was going to be in the game - a dream come true. Another highlight was chatting to Dave Kaemmer at ECTS before the release of the game - they had head-to-head races at Spa set up in cockpit simulators, and I'm sure I took up way too much of his time telling him how good GPL was. Those were the days:-) - Michael

Tony Jester wrote:

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> > Who else remembers the good old days? How about the excitement of > finding out Monaco was going to be in the game? Remember that? I > remember hitting refresh on my browser every few seconds waiting for > this "really exciting news" that was supposed to be announced any minute > now at The Apex. "Monaco will be in the game!" Well, like, now, big > deal, who cares. But back then it was great news.

I remember drooling over Alison's weekly Papy Cup race reports, thinking "one day, soon...". That was great stuff! :)

MP wrote: > And the big news to me was hearing that the original, > true Nurburgring was going to be in the game > - a dream come true. One persons dream is another persons nightmare!