Microprose Grand Prix 2 (1995) by Geoff Crammond

I’ve later calculated that I spent around 1000 hours racing in GP2. To get a picture on how much leisure time that is, it is said that it takes 5 years, with 2 to 3 training hours a week, with an educated coach, to get the black belt in karate, the Shotokan style anyway. That’s a total of 750 hours.

We were a couple of GP2 drivers that wanted to drive and compare lap times in GP2 without using any help whatsoever and we found a site devoted to this – http://www.geocities.com/MotorCity/2922/ -, unfortunately this site is no more (as of 2009-11-10). At the beginning I held most of the world records in this competition, but then came Ian Lake, and later Dave Mansell, and finally Bart Westra.

Here’s the fastest lap I ever did at Suzuka

We also run complete races in GP2, which of course lasted as long as real races do last in F1. I think I completed at least one season doing complete races. I remember blowing up the engine in the tunnel at Monaco after around 54 laps. I think a race was 84 laps back then, don’t know if it’s the same now. We of course use manual gear shifting, and I calculated that you need around 3000 to 4000 gear shifts on a race at Monaco. In those days we shifted gear by buttons on the wheel, one for up and another for down. Here’s one of the fastest no help hotlaps in the world, so you can count gear shifts for yourself.

One of my coolest experience with GP2 came with an editor to GP2. You could change grip and horsepower. This was easily discovered in the hotlap competitions, though, but what I did was to change it so I was as fast in the corners and straights as the compter cars was, and then run a complete race. Just to get a closer look on how that would be in real life. I think I qualified 8th and ended up at position 6th when the race was finished. I did it at Magny Cours, France. I remember trying to catch the car at fifth, and some laps I gained but some laps I lost to it. Lap after lap, it was frustrating. I was 7 or 8 seconds behind, and I think it was around that to the car behind me. Finally I was exhausted mentally and just settled for 6th.

I remember at the beginning of my simracing driving I had the race line shown all the time, to follow, and drove with the automatic gearbox. I found that hard enough and had no idea how to be able to drive with out that. One day I did, effortless, as if it was second nature. I practiced for it of course. At this time I still changed gear with buttons on the wheel, and tried a couple of times changing gear with the stick shifter, which my wheel also had. Found it impossible, but one day the buttons gave up, and I had too. With a little practice this also became second nature. I’m pretty sure my fastest lap  ever on Hockenheim was done with stick shifting. Stick shifting on this wheel ment pushing forward for gearing down and pulling back for gearing up.