FORMULA1_4_ FUN :)

Looks like things are changing round here.

Thought I'd just check in and let you know I haven't disappeared off the face of the earth.

My situation hasn't changed - I don't have a lot of time for racing these days. I try to find time to have a go at weekends with a bit of career mode and the public lobbies online, but that's pretty much it at the moment. I know some of you invite me when you see me online, but I'm usually half way through a 50% career race, so I don't want to quit out!

So, I don't think there's any chance I'll make it back for any races for the rest of this season, and who knows what will happen after that. As I discussed with drew, there is a chance that I'm not ever going to be able to get back into league racing but I'll just have to see.

Even if I don't return to league racing with you guys, I like to think that my legacy will remain - you finally decided to give 2012 spec cars a go!

Good luck with the move! Exciting stuff.

i am moving to perth or maybe canada

Are you going to decide when you get to the airport?! 

i Think it's 100% race   

You're right! That makes some of the driving seem even more crazy.

You have to register on the formula1 website to watch the vids, but it's free.

I still hope that one day the F1 game will force you to drive the same line that the real drivers use. The latest game still allows you to use too much off track area without spinning out or damaging the car.

I'm also not going to make it tomorrow. Just too busy at work. I'm not hopeful of making many races in the new year either.

Yes, parc ferme can now be turned off, which is handy for practice sessions. We should have it on in the league races though. Maybe it's off by default. I noticed it was off, but didn't take advantage of it and just ran the same setup throughout.

So, I just about made it home in time. Pretty tough day at work, so I almost just got myself a cold beer instead of racing! Glad I logged in though. It was good to do a league race after the long break.

Q - 2
Didn't manage a clean lap. Was only 0.2 down on Striker in my final attempt at the end of S2, and should have made it round for a low 1:34 at least, but got the chicane at the start of S3 wrong. Finished up nearly a second behind.

R - 3
Pretty much an extended version of quali for me. Struggled to string together 3 good sectors in the same lap. Was hanging on to striker for a while and almost got into DRS range. That would have made things interesting! Instead I made some small mistakes and he pulled away.

Was holding a comfortable gap to stubbs in 3rd, but that started to disappear as my option tyres faded, and when I pitted on L12 I was only just ahead of him. I knew he was on primes and would be staying out a few more laps, so I planned to try to get some quick laps in on my fresh tyres to build a gap. Didn't work out, as I almost spun at T1 three laps in a row! Gaz must have almost run into me the first time. So instead of having a bit of a lead over stubbs, I ended up only just in front of him again after his stop. He got past under DRS at the first attempt. There was really no point trying to defend it.

Livo was now not far behind, and I thought it would only be a matter of time before he caught and passed me as well (I wasn't sure which tyres he was on). He was gaining on me and must have got close to DRS range at one point. Then I managed to pull the gap out a bit and it remained at 2-2.5 sec for many laps until he must have made a small mistake which gave me a bit of breathing space. I thought he might have run out of fuel on the final lap as the gap went up to nearly 20 sec, but it sounds like he spun out somewhere.

Even though it was never wheel to wheel, I really enjoyed the battle with livo, knowing that I had to try to stay out of DRS range.

I'm not sure how many of the races I'll make over the next few months because I know things are going to be crazy at work, but I'll try my best.

Yeah, maybe we could try a couple of 25% races with 1-shot-quali another night. I suppose I'm just thinking about ways to make the league fairer for all and a bit more fun. I remember the 2010 game, when I used to be able to login almost any evening and find some of you guys online. I did zero practice and no work on setups but looked forward to racing without getting rammed off! Since we set up a league it has become more "professional" but maybe less fun.

As for Castrol, I honestly don't know why he's so upset! The 2012 game is surely the best one so far. I've been playing offline more than online and really enjoy it.