Mike Barlow
Country: United States
Born 06/08/67
Helmet Colour: Red Pit Crew member for Amature SCCA drivers
1980-96 Pit crew member for Pro Trans Am and Formula Atlantic
teams from 1986-95 Raced the NASCAR sims online from 1995-98 Top
ten in many online NASCAR series Raced the GPL sim online from
1998-?
Art McEwen
Born: 24-10-1961
Canadian
Married, 0 kids, 1 cat, 3 cars
Helmet colour: light green.
First racing SIM: can't remember but it was GP something on an
8088. Dedicated watcher of F1 & CART (IRL if I'm desperate,
BTCC when I can find it). I try to get to a couple of Club or
vintages races every year.
Active Slotcar racer.
Nearest GPL track: Mosport (same washrooms since '67).
Real life car: 1960 Triumph TR3
FV Car: Sometimes a Ferrari, sometimes a Lotus, using Ron
Aryton's set-ups as my base.
Favourite GPL track: Whatever one I've learned recently.
Fulvio Policardi (pictured with family)
Country: Italy.
Age: 43.
Helmet colour: TBA
I live in Monfalcone near Trieste and Venice (we build the
biggest cruise ships in the world in our shipyard). I deal with
computers from 22 years as system engineer and software
developer. Gpl is my first true sim. I have discovered it by
chance looking for Flight Simulator 98 in Dec 98. Almost never
interested me to play with pc apart from GP/GPMoto (Accolade'88)
but when i saw Gpl the great passion for motor that i had in the
70's re-emerged. Clark, Hill, Ickx, Brabham, Rindt and poor
Bandini returned in my mind suddenly. It Was very hard at the
beginning. I din't know nothing of Voodoo2, 3d Graphics and
multiplayer and the cars was very difficult to drive (Still are).
I discovered Gpl online world and a lot of sites dedicated to it
and i took off. In May 1999 I purchased a Voodoo2 for my PII 350
to race my first offline F1 league Summercup and that did the
difference. Finally i saw all that beautiful graphics! In
Summercup i struggled for last position. There was too many
hotlappers. In June i discovered F3 and GPML and online's crosses
and delights. I have raced in SRM Challenge F3 and F1 Light
finishing 6th and 3rd at the end. In F1 i race in CML Online and
Offline league of Comet Motorsports Team. The championship that
interested me more is GPVL cause i think F3 is more suitable to
my way of driving. My eager brain have more time to react to what
happens around and F3 requires precision and consistancy. I don't
like hotlap, I like long close races. I have tried F2 a couple of
time in online racing and it was very fun, it's a good compromise
between F3 an F1 and i feel good driving F2 but i haven't enough
time to practice also F2. I have a woman and two kids to live
with and you know how important is family. In fact i can race
online only Sunday. At the end of course i love Ferrari.
Jan Verschueren
Country: Belgium
Helmet Colour: Purple
Born: 09-feb-1970
Occupation: Self employed salesperson, IT-guy, Electronic circuit
designer, embedded controller programmer plus 8 other trades and
13 accidents (local saying: "a man of 12 trades and 13
accidents").
Simracing career so far: Like everyone I started off-line, but
then, a couple of months after I got on "the web", GP2
emerged. Enter Randy Harris' Gp2 racing league. I learned quickly
and I managed to come 2nd in the first, mini-season. Then the
talented people came over and I ended the first real season near
the bottom of the top 20. I had also ventured into racing by
E-mail and a spin off ICR2 league. As these died out, I killed
time using TOCA and F1RS.
It was around that time I calculated I had already spent 900+
hours at the wheel of a simulated performance vehicle. I had
upgraded my PC to appreciate the forthcoming GPL to the fullest.
In the real world, the Gp2 community was struggling to hold
together using news and ftp servers.
After GPL's release I soon ventured online with GPL. First with a
low ping connection to Greg Renner, later I got more bold, hosted
races myself and joined two off-line (HMRC and GTD) and one
online league (Ferrari-Cooper challenge). As these leagues are
now defunct, I became heavily involved in Mark Seery's GPVL (then
GPML). I am committed to help Mark broaden the on-line racer base
and help provide a structure for these racers to ascend the
ladder of the sport. I'm climbing like hell myself, but some
devious piece of work (I suspect Mike Barlow) keeps sabotaging
the rungs and sawing bits off the legs!!
I also currently compete in MARA (Middle Aged Racers
Association), a combined F1/F2 league with an emphasis on clean
and gentlemanly on-track conduct. I drive the BRM because I
simply like the way it handles once you get it set up right.
Making up in quality for what it lacks in talent or numbers this
organisation has managed to secure a warm place in my heart.
In future I am looking up to work less and race more. Must get
around to revamping my love life (in the freezer since I started
working on a self-employed basis six years ago). I will try to
fit in as much racing as possible without compromising my
professional life.
Update : still no let up in activity and now I'm also
doing the day to day running of this league.... help!! ;-)
Joop "Natas" Smulders
Country: Holland
Born: 22-07-1966
Marque: Lotus
Helmet Colour: Orange
I`m a proto type engineer by trade, am married and have 2
children. Before Ijoined this league I had never raced a sim
before in my life. Got GPL from a friend the sneaky way by
getting it by ftp, I was flabergasted (McGill`s quote, you know
what i mean Mark J.). Bought the game, a cheap wheel (that was
broke in 2 weeks from intensive use) and been hooked ever since.
Discovered Vroc, saw the times those guys were running, and fell
out of my chair. In the pickup races there is always someone in
to play the fool and ram you of the track, so I decided to join a
league. I tought F3 (the Training mode) was a good way to start
(little did I know :-) ).
I`m glad Idid eventhough I get lapped by the top dudes twice a
race. I`m still improving on speed and skill, that is my main
goal.
C-Y`all on the track. Please don`t get mad if I get in your way
or ask to much.
Mark Jeangerard
Country: United States.
Born: May 10, 1960, San Francisco, USA.
Started sim racing with Microprose World Circuit on a 386 with a
flight yoke! I bought Grand Prix II the day it came out. It took
less than a month to find the GP2 Racing Lea...... :-))
Mark Seery
Country: Eire.
Age: 36. 5th March 1964.
Helmet colour: Light (Emerald) Green
Status: Single but married--work it out!
Occupation. Past and present: Materials engineer (specifically
aircraft structures), Driving instructor, Procurement officer and
currently, full time layabout :-)
Racing Career: Started racing way back in 1987 with Nigel
Mansell's Grand Prix on Amstrad 464!! Great fun waiting 10 mins
for a cassette tape to load a track and saved season !!
Progressed to GP1 on Amiga. Those were the days when I used to
lap the field and thought I was fast. GP2 came as a real culture
shock as I made my first forays into the PC world Proper. Like
Jan Verschueren, I started racing sims competetively with the
GP2RL. It took some time to come to terms with the fact that
there were a load of cocky teenage tossers who could blow me
away!!! Like many here, I played with all the new releases and
they came and went. Then came GPL........
Since the coming of GPL, all other sims have lost their pull,
although I occasionally turn a few laps in N3. My aim is to
ensure that this league continues to thrive and grow, through a
process of evolution. The GPVL will continue for as long as there
is interest or until something knocks GPL off it's perch. The
"Something" will have to be something special to do
this.
Real life experiences in racing: I have competed in kart racing
for many years now and currently race in Prokart categories doing
endurance racing. (Twin 4-stroke Honda engines). Last year was
particularly good for me with a win, three second places and two
thirds. I have had the honour of lapping Brands Hatch in a
Formula First and FF200 (complete with wings and slicks :-)). I
have also driven many performance cars on driving instructor
track days and the crowning glory was a couple of laps around
silverstone in a Ferrari F40. Just wish I had the income to do
some serious racing in some real machinery for a change (Sigh).
BTW. My kid brother is in the Metropolitan police force and is
qualified as a pursuit driver. Believe me. Racing drivers are all
pussies compared with those guys :-). I recently had the
"honour" of doing a night shift with him as a civillian
observer. You aint lived until you have done 100 mph around the
high streets of London with every shop front, drunken pedestrian,
traffic island and lamp post ready to jump out in front of you
Mike Horton
Country: United States
Age: 33
Helmet colour: TBA
Sim Racing History
N1 (Offline), N2 (Offline), GPL (GMSS F3, GMSS Founders, GMSS F1,
GPVL), N3 (OFL (Old Farts League), retired from N3PRC. NL
(OFL-Legends, The Pits Grand National Car Club)
Personal Info:
Married with 3 kids Profession: Computer Engineer and working on
a Computer Systems degree
Paul Venkatesh
Country: UK.
Age: 36.
Helmet colour: Black
Car: Ferrari (except when something else is much faster)
Real Racing History: None - don't ask me if GPL is realistic,
'cos I don't have a clue. It just seems predictable - If I spin,
I know its my fault, and not something a programmer has added
somewhere.
Sim Racing History: Chequered Flag on the Sinclair Spectrum in
1985, F1GP on the Amiga 1200 at the blistering frame rate of 7.5
fps for a year or two. GP2 on PC for about 1 month before I got
bored of it.
Best replay (unfortunately lost now) - off-line race when I
reversed back onto the track at Monza after Curva Grande, Chris
Amon approaching clipped the left hand wheels of my car with his
right hand wheels, flipped into the air in a 360 degree roll
sideways, landed on all 4 wheels and carried on as if nothing had
happened!!
Santiago Vallina
Name: Santiago Vallina
Age: 33
Occupation: Petrochemic QA Inspector for past 4 years.
Country: Spain
Car: Ferrari
Helmet: Black
Nick: san
I wasn't in pole, only was second....but in the first corner I
was first. It only was before the accident....I would must be
colder whith my mind often..jajaja.
PS: I am whith the black helmet and Orange-blue clotes, whith
Number 39
While I have never worked in a computer related field, since age 18 "racing computer games" have been my favourite genre. I took my first serious steps with Microprose GP (GP1), then came GP2, GP3, Colin McRae1 and 2, and finally GPL. This attraction stems from being very interested in anything with wheels and an engine ever since I was a child. First rallies, then F1 and motorcycles... all of this is my life. I spend a big part of my spare time driving my car or my bike (I sold the kart last year).
Stuart Becktell
Born: 11/20/83
Location: Rochester, NY
Helmet Color: Gold (changes A LOT though, hehe)
Occupation: High School/Part-Time college student/President of computer company (ClandestineTech.com, no page at the moment though)
Started with NASCAR Racing in 1994. I didn’t do to good at it though, without a wheel, and took a couple of years before I got good enough to compete in a league. I ran a couple of races in NASSCAR in 97 (offline) in their ARCA league. In 98 and 99, I ran about 20 races a year, with a 26th and 18th in final points respectively, but only one top 5 the entire time. Ran in a couple of online leagues through NASCAR 2 with OSCAR and some other leagues, never did that great, but showed respectable results.
Then GPL came out I got the warez of it before it came out, and knew that I had to get it (just someone saying that a 14 mile track would be in the game made me get it.) Competing in some online "fun" races until the league quietly shut itself down, just as I was about to win some races. Found out that GPVL existed from some correspondences on RAS about getting Indy for GPL. Took a bit but I finally got into the series in August of 2001, and have been able to NOT get lapped but cause my own share of competition for the other back markers.
I hope to get into some real racing soon, probably through
SCCA Solo II racing in the spring, in my "I got it for
free" 1989 Toyota Corolla sedan
Terry Vreeland
Nick: TVree
Location: South Pasadena, CA USA
DOB: 3/8/55
Helmet color: Light Grey
Sim-racing for >5 years, GP2/3 (GP3GL, LFRS), TPTCC Touring
cars (Online Champion Summer 2001), most often racing for
Simracing Germany (SRG) in team-oriented leagues. Married with 2
daughters 12 and 15 (and living to tell about it). Also
guitarist/vocalist/songwriter with 2 CDs produced.
Trevor Mack
Nick: MickeyMouse
Country: USA
Car: Lotus
Helmet: Black
No married, one serious girlfriend, Amber
Background: I've been racing for 3 years 6 months 8 days 8 hours.
I started with F1 World Grand Prix on the N64. I like all forms
of racing, but FV is my favorite. I've driven in F1, F2, F3, FV,
FG, F1 (F1 2001), and NASCAR leagues. I held a few world records
at Monaco and Indy in F1 2001, just edging out Greger Huttu.
Ian Clarke
Born: 2nd April 1963
Country: England
Car: Eagle
Helmet: Gold
Married to Linda for 9 years
more later...
Fernando Montero
Pictured with Juan Pablo Montoya (Fernando's the good looking one on the right).
Name: Fernando Montero
Age: 22
Country: Spain
Car: Eagle
Helmet: Black
Nick: Arch
This was my first time I went to a circuit to see and hear a real F1, and I
was lucky to enter in the pit-lane and lucky again to take a photo with Juan
Pablo Montoya. But the most impresive experience was feeling a F1 car passing
within just one metre from me.
Eduardo
Sanchez
Pictured in the paddock of the 2003 Nissan World Series Race at Jarama.
Name: Eduardo Sanchez
Hobbies: Race simulations and I follow all classes of international car races
(F1,CART,GT,ETCC) and motorcycle too.
I like going to see ALL the races at Jarama.
Passion: my daughters..