The collected works of ScottyB

Managing to procure a copy of the Japanese demo for Gran Turismo 5 Prologue Demo (henceforth known as ‘GT5PD’) was both the best thing and worst thing I’ve done since owning the PS3.

In one foul swoop, getting my grubby little hands on this non-English preview of the upcoming Prologue (and not-so-upcoming Christmas 2008 full release) has shown me the promise of true next-gen racing. And at the same time, shown me that I’m going to lose huge portions of my life to it.

The car models are amazing, the tracks look fantastic.. the new interior view is great.

It was released to coincide with the Tokyo Motorshow too, so some of the cars (the 2007 Subaru and the Nissan GTR) were under wraps - literally under huge cloths/veils - and when they were officially released to the press in Tokyo, they were unlocked for play in GT5PD.. so you’d get this incredible little cut scene of the cover being lifted and furled back, then lights going on and camera flashes from surround peeps.. it was brilliant.

Unfortunately it is again, only one track - so it does wear a little thin as a demo, but the promise of Prologue (whenever it arrives for us) is more than enough.

Gran Turismo 5, the ultimate of ULTIMATE driving simulators.

It all began on Sunday night.

I decided that I was going to wake up for the race. The 2007 F1 season had gone down to the wire. Räikkönen, Alonso and Hamilton all in with a shot at taking out the drivers title. One race left, one last chance.

Thanks to the fact we in Australia are on a completely different time zone to the folks in Brazil, the race was live at 2am my time. Ouch. The witching hour. I’m usually going to bed at 2am - not getting up then.

Nevertheless, the decision was made by myself. I was going to get to bed at about 11pm, wake up at 2am - watch the race - go to bed when it was all over, then take Monday off as a precautionary measure to recover. Sounded brilliant.

The reality was a little more difficult. I managed to get to sleep okay, but slept really lightly - then I actually woke up before my alarm at 2am. I guess its hard to settle when you’re that excited about something.

I woke up, messaged Dean, brought up the live timing and I truly couldn’t believe my eyes.

Going into the final round, Lewis Hamilton was on 107 points, Fernando Alonso on 103 and Kimi Räikkönen on 100. Technically all with a shot, but you had to say, it really did look to be in Hammy’s favour. However, booting up the live timing - and Kimi was running 2nd, Alonso 4th and Hamilton… 14th.

To cut a long story short, seeing as everyone pretty much knows the rest of the story anyway, the 2007 Drivers title went to Kimi Räikkönen. Unbelievable.

There’s no doubt that he drove a stellar second half of the season. Proved he could adapt to a new team and new tyres. And he wasn’t looking back to his days at McLaren for a moment - so many close calls, so many title chances ruined by unreliability and plain bad luck. This year, 2007 - Kimi’s year - luck swung in his favour.

There was a moment of absolute awesome excitement as he crossed the line in 1st place, securing the title on the last race by one single point. ONE point! Making this not only the sweetest victory in an incredibly tumultuous season, but also a record. Three drivers all covered at the conclusion of the season by one point.

1 - Kimi Räikkönen…….. 110
2 - Lewis Hamilton……. 109
3 - Fernando Alonso….. 109

Wow.

I have held off posting this entry as (those of you following it will know) the title is still to be decided behind closed doors thanks to discrepancies with fuel temperatures on the BMW and Williams cars standing between McLaren’s Hamilton and Kimi’s title. Hopefully logic will prevail and there will be no gerrymandering, but either way;

Congratulations Kimi Raikkonen! A perfect season, Drivers title won on the track.