A great summary of events for a very exciting evening Maz. Congratulations on your win by the way!
I was 'number 1' on the checklist, I think you were couple behind me so I didn't get to see your lap (I felt my GF had been very patient waiting around for two hours for me to have my go, so didn't want to push my luck by hanging around too much longer).
It was refreshing to see so many GT fans of a similar age group, which has FINALLY convinced my girlfriend, who witnessed events, that the PS3 is not just for children. This was certainly a pivotal moment for me and my PS3 which will retain it's position in the lounge for some time, hopefully.
Some of the guys tried to persuade her to have a go, but luckily she didn't else some of the fans towards the back of the queue may have missed a go. Also, I think she was a little intoxicated following the steady flow of champagne and would have taken an eternity to complete a single lap. In hindsight, this could have been quite amusing to watch, assuming you weren't still queuing
I though the circuit looked very authentic, although I agree that the the 3D aspect of the game didn't really impress. In fact, if I hadn't have known it was 3D, the effect would have gone unnoticed. I think the reason for this is that the Top Gear circuit is quite sparse, flat, and with very little background detail by way of scenery - put simply, it's very much grass and asphalt with the occasional 'Jumbo' in the distant background, so not much 'close-up' scenery to take advantage of the 3D effects.
The handling model felt good, and I think the stand was set up for professional physics judging by the kick-back some of the guys were getting from over-correcting over-steer. It seemed to be quite unforgiving, which is how it should be and makes for a much more realistic experience.
It's a pity the volume was low and the ambient noise was high as this resulted in having to take your eyes of the road to check the rev counter for gear shifting.
I thoroughly enjoyed my laps and think I could have nailed a 1.16 if I hadn't have been caught out by Bacharach Bend which was much tighter than I had expected. Unfortunately, my over-eagerness caused me to clip the grass on the exit on each of the laps which resulted in a best 'red' lap time of 1.19, which didn't count
As it turned out, I think a lap time of 1.13 / 1.14 was probably about the best that could be achieved with practice.
In summary, it was fantastic to get a glimpse of GT5, meet other GT fans and i'm revved up for release which will hopefully be very soon.
Time to put in some more practice on Prologue and purchase a new wheel!
advent