Having bitten the bullet and picked the timetable that kicks off with a quick 20 minute blast with GPL, I need somebody to suggest what car & track combo for us to race at.

I get the impression that most of us won't have played (or had little experience) with GPL, so the few that have can just talk it out (hence the lack of a poll) and make a good decision for the rest of us.

Some of you have suggestioned using either the 65 or 69 cars.

Adrian (the race centre manager) has suggested the Ferrari 512 at Watkins Glen. I've no idea what the car is like although at least I've driven the track in other sims.

Anyway, I'll leave it to the GPL'ers to keep us entertained. Remember we've only 20 minutes each (40 mins total) for GPL so don't pick a track that's too long... or too hard for GPL noobs.

I'll point Adrian here, he's almost certainly got the most experience at making GPL (and complete race sim) newbies have fun so his suggestions are certainly worth consideration.

Over to you...

I used to play GPL (even before GP4) but since moving to XP it never quite ran so good!!

Anyway, I agree that Watkins Glen is the best track to use. It is quite short, so we should get a decent race and it is the track I used the most (so the one I know the best).

As for the car - I have no idea. I always used the green one!

Tim

I know I'm outsider on this but imho best track for GPL newbies is Monza. It is easy to learn and memorize. BUT if people want to practise before the event you probably want to take the 'Glen as it comes with the demo. And as car choise you probably want to take the demo car as well.

Outsider too, but I'd recommend the Watkins Glen track. Relatively short and quite demanding. That right hander at the downhill around the middle of the track is a , dunno how many times I've lost control of my car there. I mostly drove the Lotus.

Thanks Bob ... You are correct, I did mention Watkins Glen. Of the 400 or so real world GPL circuits there are 4 that we regularly use to maximise accessibility and enjoyment. I will not mention the other 3 as before you know it you will have another poll on your hands

Watkins Glen with the Ferrari 512 is a pretty good choice. I shall confess that Monza as mentioned is one of the other 3. However, there are three reasons to go with Watkins Glen over Monza.

1) It is possible to cheat by bouncing off some of the barriers at Monza
2) Watkins Glen is as said the track in the demo
3) There is a blind crest at Watkins that provides regular amusement for drivers and spectators alike

Adrian

How about Goodwood ? in the ferrari Do like the Lotus a lot too.

Other tracks that I have played are Kyalami (good) Spa (hard) Isle of Man (zOMG)

mad

Oooh Goodwood. One of the few circuits I've been round IRL.

I'm quite happy to trust thingymebob from that place whatsit. He does this for a living, then generally qualifies most people to know what they are talking about. I have never ever used GPL and neither have I driven the track so it will all be new to me . . . .

Isle of Man would be insane... First timers will be doing well to even complete a clean lap in the alloted twenty minutes, let alone enjoy the experience. And experienced GPLers who haven't raced the circuit in a while will need to spend now until April relearning the sequence of corners (I speak only for myself here )

Goodwood I'm a fan of too, but its really fast (REALLY fast), and a lot more difficult than it looks. Would be hard to learn its nuances in twenty minutes.

Kyalami - great combination for first timers and old hands alike: long flat out straight; easy sequence of corners to remember; REALLY satisfying corners when you get them right; lots of elevation changes and varying camber. Packs a lot in for a short track.

Snetterton or Brands Hatch might be worth considering...

As for the car: 69 - either the Brabham or the Matra; both handle really well. If we went for the 67s, well, I'm a Lotus fan, but if we only have one car then it'd have to be the Ferrari.

I'd be inclined to go with Kyalami, because camber and elevation are interesting, and I've never played GPL before (although I am really looking forward to it), so not having to rember more than a few corners braking points in a shortish time would be an advantage to trying to get up to speed!

Although naturally, I'm happy with anything

I think that Kyalami and Goodwood are two great tracks... quite easy to run on and not insanely long...

I'm just looking forward to it. Anything on GPL on any of the main 11 tracks but I am bound to be last on LFS, whatever you pick on. A Fox on South City Long or WestHill??

Goodwood

Without any consensus in the thread I'm going to switch to "oraniser mode" and go with Adrian's suggestion of Watkins Glen for the track, as he has some pretty convincing reasons for picking it over other tracks.

Since there's been little discussion on the car front I'll leave that for a while to see if anything can come of it, if not I'll be forced to pick again.

Hope everyone is happy with that.

Quote from Bob Smith :

Without any consensus in the thread I'm going to switch to "oraniser mode" and go with Adrian's suggestion of Watkins Glen for the track, as he has some pretty convincing reasons for picking it over other tracks.

Since there's been little discussion on the car front I'll leave that for a while to see if anything can come of it, if not I'll be forced to pick again.

Hope everyone is happy with that.

Yeah, the Glen is a good choice I'm happy to go with and it matches most of the reasons I gave for choosing Kyalami. The Ferrari is a good choice too: not very fast in a straight line (compared to the Eagle or the Lotus), but great in corners (matches the circuit well - I don't know if it comes with the demo, but to be honest, its not going to matter, because we are all going to have to adapt to new controllers at the centre. It'll be like being in a car you've never driven before anyway)

If Adrian can run the 69 mod, then I'd like to make a case for the Brabham (but again I'm not too bothered about which car really). I find the 69 mod physics less frustrating than the original's. Great as the 67 cars are, they do some odd things sometimes, and I eventually got bored with having to drive round these anomolies. They were things which could be fixed, but the nostalgia of the 67 original prevents anyone from 'vandalising' the cars (The upcoming 66 mod is going to address these issues apparently).

So I think everyone is agreeing on the '69 mod, Adrian suggested this too with the Brabham, as well his other suggestion for the Ferrari. The Matra has also been suggested.

Any consensus?

69 mod is cool, i really have no car preference, they are all good. But being a ferrari fan i would obviously like a ferrari but that has nothing to do how it drives. I find GPL cars are all fun to drive!

mad

Quote from Madman_CZ :

But being a ferrari fan i would obviously like a ferrari but that has nothing to do how it drives.
mad

The Ferrari is one of the slower cars on the 69 grid, but since we'd all be driving the same car (and as I understand the itinery, doing a kind of virtual track day, rather than wheel to wheel racing) that wouldn't matter too much.

The reason I suggest the Brabham is that it seems to have a more planted front end than the other cars; once the tyres are warmed up you can really throw it around with a fair degree of confidence. I suggest the Matra for the same reason; its a sweetly balanced drive, to the extent that it actually lacks a bit of drama.

With the Brabham there are a few cons too: with the high-wing version, you have to drive with that wing in front of your nose, run with the low-wing version and the big rear-wing renders your mirrors nearly useless.

Bump - If Adrian is suggesting the Brabham at Watkins Glen, that chimes with my suggestion too... I'd say go for that.

I am not fussy, whatever works =) I will just try not to crash =)