Thought I would post a new thread that was inspired by the "GPL online,
terrified of racing!" thread.
Reading the posts has brought back memories of the first few months on Hawaii.
DAMN! That was great! I remember the first time I went into the drivers room,
electric. Everyone talking about Hawaii, what was going on that week, bugs
that were being found and fixed, drivers discussing setups and strategy - great
stuff, we all felt so involved! The race screen at the top, all the drivers
listed, races lined up.
Sweat on my hands isn't the word for it. Butterflies in my stomach...foot
jittering on the brake pedal as I sat in the pits at dega'. And then the cars
going by me. On the track, through the pits and everyone was a guy in some
other part of the world, truly amazing. I sat there for a few minutes before
easing down pitlane. All the while I chided myself for being
nervous....Christ! It's just a game! :))
As I recall, I learned quickly that it's best to get a good qualifying setup to
be near the front when the "big one" took place, as usual, into turn one. But
all-in-all, just a one-of-a-kind time.
My Brother and I spent almost as much time on setups as we did talking to long
distance carriers, trying to get the best deal we could on phone rates.
Checking your mail to see if there was any new info.
Getting the newest update and upgrade whenever you logged on.
Waiting for a race "administrator."
Saturday nights.
Met some nice guys there too....names I remember are Fratedog...GT86...Cmone...
Shell....fast, clean and always helpful. Talk in the drivers room was almost
always about racing, how to do it better and faster. New guys were helped as
well and as often as was necessary. Just a fun and exciting time in sim racing
history...and since then, no matter how a sim multi-player is laid out, it
never feels quite the same as Hawaii.
Just a few memories...
Mike (Wozmon on Hawaii)
"Race1530" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:[email hidden]...
> Thought I would post a new thread that was inspired by the "GPL online,
> terrified of racing!" thread.
>
> Reading the posts has brought back memories of the first few months onHawaii.
> DAMN! That was great! I remember the first time I went into the driversroom,
> electric. Everyone talking about Hawaii, what was going on that week,bugs
> that were being found and fixed, drivers discussing setups and strategy -great
> stuff, we all felt so involved! The race screen at the top, all thedrivers
> listed, races lined up.
>
> Sweat on my hands isn't the word for it. Butterflies in my stomach...foot
> jittering on the brake pedal as I sat in the pits at dega'.
Get into some cracking league racing - and it only gets worse :O
Last race of my first Nascar league season was just an amazing race from
start to finish. The emotion that goes into a full league season is quite
amazing
I burst into tears after winning my 2nd league season - probably linked to
my grandfather - a true gentleman racer ( he raced at brooklands ) - who
passed away during the season and always - despite his total lack of
understanding of computers - enjoyed my race reports after a league race!
DOug
>>I burst into tears after winning my 2nd league season - probably linked tomy grandfather - a true gentleman racer ( he raced at brooklands ) - who
passed away during the season and always - despite his total lack of
understanding of computers - enjoyed my race reports after a league race!>>
Congrats on the Season win...and condolences on your Grandfather. I lost my
Father in Nov 2002, he was a racer also. Hang tough.
Mike.
It took me almost 2 week's to actually join a race after discovering VROC
in 99- I was lucky enough to have access to a leased line at work and was
trying to run a server for UK racers. I remember my first online race
was at Zandy. My car of choice was Ferrari. I was happily lapping in the
28's, I could keep the car on the track a lap consistently, I was pretty
satisfied with myself. I thought I was quite fast, how wrong was I....
these two guys from the UK joined the race, Ginger (bowtnettertodo) and
Ian Parker came on track and put in 26s & 27s, I qualified 2nd last :)
However in my first ever race both Ginger and Ian raced me, It was an
incredible feeling, hands sweating, butterflies in stomach, not wanting
to take other racers of the track� the next again day I went out and
bought a Logitech FF, ordered ISDN, totally hooked!
I don't race GPL anymore - but in the 3 years I won 2 UK GPL
championships, went to Holland for a euro GPL Lan event! - And most
importantly met and raced brilliant people. I remember glorious nights
racing with ian p , ginger , mercer, lol s, paul h , peter a, andreas w,
dave p, marc r, kev !!! 3 am in the morning, lights of in the bedroom,
the glow from my monitor and that Ferrari v12 rasping away ! 3 cars side
by side with another 3 behind at monza,spa,zandy - many races ended after
9-10 laps of pure racing because one of us , me usually :), was on such a
high that I was laughing my ass of at some of the
ridiculous/amazing/scary racing and I just couldn't contain myself - 7-8
racers racing for the hell of it , wanting to win but at the same time
taking care not to punt anyone off - its was unbeatable - my favorite
moments in GPL.
League racing was different - more intense and nerve wracking - the edge
of competition pushes you further, knowing that you cant make a mistake -
I suppose my best competition races where at rouen against barty m - that
was the fastest race I ever competed in�� this was a race for the UK
championship and I remember putting the Ferrari on pole with a 54.2,
during the race I had a huge moment , coming down to rouen hairpain bend
I lost it under braking spun 360 but manage to gather the car on the apex
of the hairpin with barty right up my exhaust pipe� somehow I managed to
hold on for the win�! the other race was against greger h at zandy in the
euro league , but the UK team never did managed to get its act together J
Wow good times ... it motivates me to get my wheel out and start racing
GPL � If someone is wondering If they should join a GPL race - do it dont
wait !
That story could bring a tear to a glass eye !! I can here the violins :)
Enjoy your racing !!! .... hopefully one day we all get a sim worthy of
us !
Paul Grillo
"Doug Ellison" <[email hidden]> wrote in message news:<qWlla.3643$[email hidden]>...
I know what you mean (racing intenity - not the loss :( )
After a season long battle with a fellow simracer who has earned my
utmost respect - Gary "Khrest" Brown - I entered the final event with
a chance of winning. We were tooth and nail for about 30 laps at the
end of the race. I was holding on for all I was worth in a car that
had completely shot it's tyres. A couple of laps from the end I could
do no more and he got by to take the win and the championship. It was
all hard but fair stuff and I was sweating like a pig come the finish.
A physical and mental drain (I can't imagine what it must be like for
RL drivers who actually do have the physical side to deal with), but
the most fun I've ever had in front of a PC.
Regards,
Mark Davison
OVAL Deputy Admin
Car #69
http://www.tjracing.co.uk/OVAL/
Quoted text (10 lines)
> Get into some cracking league racing - and it only gets worse :O > > Last race of my first Nascar league season was just an amazing race from > start to finish. The emotion that goes into a full league season is quite > amazing > > I burst into tears after winning my 2nd league season - probably linked to > my grandfather - a true gentleman racer ( he raced at brooklands ) - who > passed away during the season and always - despite his total lack of > understanding of computers - enjoyed my race reports after a league race!You are getting old and slow, Paul ;-)
Jon Andersen
"Paul Grillo" <[email hidden]> skrev i melding
news:[email hidden]...
