G'Day fellow tuxers……. Its your interim host here once again…….. Its a sunny Saturday here right now…….…… This week was rather good……. The weather was quite nice…… Besides a few days…….. Got rained on while walking once or twice……..

Built a new gate to stop the fleabag getting down the side of the house………

Besides that there was not much going on……. Was a nice and quiet week……. Lots of walking and just enjoying the nice winter days…….

[+..••] As for gaming this week in Emulationville I played [+..••]

Arcade

World Heroes Perfect (1995 ADK) - Fighting


Console

CART World Series (1997 Sony) - Sony PlayStation - Sports (Racing)
Dakar '97 (1997 Virign Interactive) - Sony PlayStation - Sports (Racing)
NASCAR: Dirt to Daytona (2002 Infogrames) - Sony PlayStation 2 - Sports (Racing)
NBA Jam Tournament Edition (1995 Acclaim) - Sega Mega Drive - Sports (Basketball)
NFL Blitz (1998 Midway) - Nintendo 64 - Sports (Football)
Street Fighter II Remastered Edition (2020 Pyron) - Sega Mega Drive - Fighting
TOCA 2 Touring Car Championship (1998 Codemasters) - Sony PlayStation - Sports (Racing)
WRC: Rally Evolved (2005 Sony) – Sony PlayStation 2 – Sports (Racing)


PC

NASCAR Heat 5 (2020 Motorsport Games) – Steam (Proton) - Sports (Racing)
WRC 10 FIA World Rally Championship (2021 Nacon) – Steam (Proton) - Sports (Racing)


The Dick Trickles Racing Career: Part 25
NASCAR Dirt to Daytona: Part 25
Featherlite Modified Series Season 1: Race 3

Intro music…... Hello and welcome to Left Turn Heaven..... Im Murray Eastlake and today im going to be bringing you all the action from the 2004 Featherlite Modified Series: Round 3 of 11 here at Welch Valley Racing Complex……..



Welch Valley Racing Complex


Welch Valley Racing Complex is 2.22 miles long with 9 turns….. This is the only road course the Featherlite Modified Series attends…… The turns are fast and sweeping…… The straights are very long….. You need a good all round car that handles very well for this track……. Being such a different track to anything else on the calendar really does mean anything can happen here at Welch Valley Racing Complex…..

Dick Trickle is really on a role as of late……. After just missing out on the victory last week by 0.003 seconds……. He has raced in two Weekly Dirt Racing Series events and won them both…… Hes looking to bring that from here to Welch Valley Racing Complex…… Where Dick will make his road course debut in the NASCAR Series…….


2004 Weekly Dirt Racing Series: Round 2 of 10…...


Dick Trickle picked up a new sponsor for the Infogrames Flaming Dick Machine…….


Dundas Grill……



2004 Weekly Dirt Racing Series: Round 3 of 10…...


I managed to get a quick word with Dick as he was setting up in the paddock area……. I asked him how he was feeling after last weeks heart breaking loss and his two dirt series win since then…… “Cheers Murray…….. Yeah im feeling better now that I got those two wins…… Last week still feels like a kick in the balls…… But I now have to focus on today and what I can make of it…… Ive never competed in a road course race in this car so this will be very different……. Anything can happen today Murray……. Im currently second in the championship…… So a good result here and I could be in with a chance of challenging for the title…….”

Well that is one focused Dick right there……….

The Featherlite Modified Series regulars are starting to realise that this Dick is no limp pushover…… Hes hard and he means business……. And he wont let anyone play around with him…….

John Bundy will be looking to stop Dick again after getting the win last week……. Championship points leader Justin Sulivan will be looking to extend his points leads here today……. Last years champion William Anderson will be looking for a victory today to get his title defence back on track……

Dont touch the sets...... Dont touch the dials...... You wont want to miss a single moment of the 2004 Featherlite Modified Series....… Practice and qualifying are coming up right now…...


Dick Trickle at the track ready to race.…


Practice was spent learning the track……. Dick ran many laps during the practice sessions learning every turn of this track……. He was setting decent times too and was only getting faster the longer the session went on……..

After practice it was time for qualifying……. After making a few minor tweaks to the car……. Dick set off to set a time and what a time he set…… 1:19.720……. To put the Klipsch Modified Flaming Dick Machine in second place…… just 0.3 off the time set by the pole sitting Justin Sulivan….. Who is really setting his sights on the championship…….

Third was Francis Lee who bounced back well from a terrible week last week with a time of 1:21.320 followed by Joel York who posted a 1:22.004 and rounding out the top five was last years champion William Anderson with a time of 1:22.799……

Last weeks winner John Bundy was way down in thirteenth place with a disappointing 1:28.809…… He will have his work cut out for him in the race if he is to get a good result…..


Qualifying Results........



Dick Trickle lined up ready to start the race......


As the green flag dropped for the 21 lap race Dick got the jump and was leading through turn one……. With Jason Sulivan close behind…….. And Francis Lee also in hot pursuit…….

Dick Trickle led the first 7 laps…… He was not the quickest car…… But he was defending very well up until this point…… But he was losing pace as he was still using the stock suspension……. And that was causing excessive tyre wear…….

The field was running in pretty much qualifying order as the field was starting to spread out and lapped traffic was starting to get involved in the fight for the lead…….. Dicks over heating and fast wearing tyres made it harder than normal to get passed the lapped cars…….

On the 8th lap Jason Sulivan managed to get up alongside Dick down the main straight and made the pass through turn one…….

Francis Lee was trying hard to follow suit but Dick was still not giving up and was defending very aggressively…… The longer they fought hard for second place the further Jason Sulivan was scampering away………

Dick Trickle was really getting slow now as his tyres were over heating and wearing away at a rapid rate……. On Lap 14 Francis Lee was able to get passed Dick also into turn one just like Sulivan did……… But the gap to Sulivan was now 15 seconds…….. Not enough time for Lee to catch him…..

Thankfully this being a road course meant the gaps were much larger than normal……. And it took Joel York 2 laps to get up the rear of Dick…… Dick was again making life difficult for Joel York and was no push over…….. Causing York to give Dick a few spanks through the turns……

Finally Joel York was able to get the run out of the final turn and down the long main straight and was able to clear Dick well before turn one on lap 18……… And he also off into the distance…… Dick was now in fourth……. It felt like a lifetime ago he was leading this race……..

Dick was now slower than a wet week……. His tyres screaming for mercy with every turn he made……. Last years champion William Anderson was bearing down on Dick at a rate of knots…… Taking huge chunks of time out of Dicks lead……..

Finally the white flag was waved signalling the final lap……. And Dick was madly defending from Anderson…… Who had caught Dick……. And was pressing him hard down the main straight…… Anderson was so close he could now smell the fumes from Dicks exhaust…...

Dick threw a wonderful block into turn one and was just able to keep Anderson behind him as Dick was fighting tooth and nail to keep fourth…….. They went side by side through turn two……… But Dick then had the inside for the hard braking turn three and was able to retain fourth….. For now…… But Anderson was not done yet…….

Through the fast sweeper and Anderson gave Dick a nudge……. Telling him to hurry up or get out of the way……. As they were heading the tight double apex hairpin…….

Even though William Anderson was so much faster…... Dick was able to put the car in the right places to make overtaking almost impossible……..

Through the slow hairpin and Dick was again able to position the car to prevent Anderson from getting up the inside………. Just two turns left now…… The battle was well and truly on…….

Dick held the inside line through the turn and onto the second longest straight on the track……. William Anderson got a good run through that corner…… Dick saw that and moved to the inside of the track for the final corner…….. Making Anderson take the long way round if he was going the passed……

As they came to the final turn…… Dick hugged in the inside line like it was the inside of Pussy Galores thigh……… Anderson was right beside Dick on the outside……..

As they went through the corner…… Dicks tyres had all but given up……. That meant Anderson was able to carry a lot more speed through the corner than Dick……. And Dick could only watch as Anderson passed him around the outside……..

Anderson took fourth place with that last turn pass and Dick had to settle for fifth……..

Out in front…… Jason Sulivan took a commanding win with Francis Lee 22.542 seconds behind……. Francis Lee had a great bounce back weekend……. After finishing seventeenth last week to second this week……. That is great mental toughness by Francis Lee…….

Third was Joel York who was a further 17 seconds behind Lee…… William Anderson was 11 seconds behind York in fourth and Dick rounded out the top five…… Trailing Anderson by 0.6 seconds………

John Bundy had a shocker of a day……. Started thirteenth and finished in twelfth……. 2 laps behind the winner and he will have a lot of soul searching to do this week to bounce back from that one……...



Race Results..…


After the race I managed to catch a sweaty and exhausted Dick……. I asked him about his good start and what went wrong at the end……. “Well Murray……. The car was great as the start which is great for me as the newest sponsor wants me to lead a lap…… So that was extra money in the ol hip pocket…… But the tyres just didnt survive the long run…….. I was not able to make the setup adjustments needed for this track with these stock shocks on the car……. That will be my next big upgrade I think…… The suspension…….”

“Im still rather happy with how this car is going…… We are now getting top fives every week and we are getting very close to pole position……. So its not a complete loss…… The car is in one piece and nice and straight so no damage to repair…….. And my sponsors are very happy with me as I am completing all of their goals……. Ive already passed the Klipsch sponsorship year long goal so im guaranteed that money at the end of the year……..”

“Before the end of the year I should be able to afford to fully upgrade the car…… So I think im well and truly in the championship hunt next season……. This season might be a bit ambitious….. But we will have to wait and see….. We are only three races in…… Still eight more to go…..”

Next week the 2004 Featherlite Modified Series heads to Mankato Raceway….. We are back to the land of the ovals…….. Far more familiar ground for these modified drivers……...

Can Dick Trickle bounce back and get his first win???…….. Will Jason Sulivan continue his great run???……. Can William Anderson get another great top five result???……… Or will John Bundy find a way to bounce back from this weeks awful race????…….

Tune in next week for the answers to all these questions and more….. Exclusively here on Left Turn Heaven……..

This is Murray Eastlake reporting for Left Turn Heaven..... And until next time its goodbye from me....


Winnings.…



NASCAR Heat Weekly.…



2004 Modified Series Championship Standings after round 3 of 11.…







First lap Modified Dick action....


Dakar ‘97




Like sand through the hourglass…… So are the days of our Dakar………

This is a very obscure racing game…… Released in 1997 only on the Sony PlayStation and only in Japan………

The graphics are nice for the PS1…… The cars look ok……. The stages are nicely done as well….. They look suitably sparse and deserty…… The only issue with the graphics is the really bad draw distance…….. Makes this game much harder than it should be……..

The sounds are well….. there……. The engine sounds are like a vacuum cleaner set on low…. The co-driver calls are very quiet and slightly distorted…… And the stage music is……. Well its there……. Its a very short infinite loop……. Still less annoying than the Disney Sports guitar rift looping music…… And it does change with every stage……..

The controls are ok…… Its very arcade like…… But at the same time not very forgiving……. The cars slide all over the place on the sand making tight turns a nightmare……. And when you slide into a wall you come to a dead stop and have to get back up to speed again……. It feels more like driving a hovercraft than driving a purpose build rally raid machine……...

The storyline is non existent…… So like the other week I get to make up my own storyline……. April O’Neil has been kidnapped and she can only be freed if one of four drivers can win the 1997 Paris-Dakar race…….. And its up you the player to pick one of the four drivers and win the 1997 Paris-Dakar to free April O’Neil……..

The gameplay……… First problem is there are only cars in the game…… No trucks or bikes or Buggies…… Only cars….. They have truck models as you can pass AI trucks while driving through the stages……. But you cant drive any of them only the AI can…... Second problem is that there are only four cars and if you dont like Mitsubishi then you are out of luck…… Third problem is that there are only six stages and the whole Paris-Dakar can be run in under 10 minutes…….. There is not a lot of content here….. To be fair I dont know what the asking price was at the time of release…… But it better have been a budget game because there is no way this could have been a full priced game with this little content………

Besides that…… The gameplay is drive from point A to point B faster than the AI……. Thats all there is to it……. Win and you get a rather crap cutscene……. Lose and you dont get a crap cutscene…….. So in a way its better to lose…….

Overall this game is quite disappointing……. There have been very few Dakar games released over the years…… That reminds me that I still need to buy Dakar 18 on Steam next time its on sale……. The biggest problems are the lack of vehicles….. The hovercraft handling cars…….. The piss poor draw distance……. And being able to complete the mighty Paris-Dakar Rally in under 10 minutes……..

Considering the real 1997 Paris-Dakar covered 7,967km…… Over 15 stages…….. And took Kenjiro Shinozuka 61:56:31 to complete……. Its does a very poor job of replicating the Dakar……..

I know you cant fit nearly 62 hours of racing content onto a PS1 disc…….. But it really needed more stages……. And to take at least an hour to complete…… To put this into context…… Colin McRae Rally was released just 1 year later in 1998 on the PS1 and has rallies in….

• New Zealand (gravel and mud)
• Greece (gravel)
• Monaco (snow and tarmac)
• Australia (gravel and tarmac)
• Sweden (snow and ice)
• Corsica (tarmac)
• Indonesia (gravel, mud and tarmac)
• United Kingdom (gravel, snow, mud and tarmac)

There are 6 stages in each country including super special stages………… So there are 48 stages covering a variety of road surfaces……….. It took way more than 10 minutes to complete a countries rally let alone an entire season………...

I rate this game a sand in the butt crack out of 10……..

For the lack of content and crap car sounds and piss poor draw distance and hovercraft car handling……. I hereby give Dakar '97 the official rating of CC……. No not Australian CC Chips……. CC stands for C.Rap Clowns….. The worst rating a game can get here on Gaming on Linux……..


Dakar ‘97


Next week……. I need to get out and now the lawn…….. The fleabag almost disappears out there its like a jungle……… And I wanna do a complete tidy up of the house……. Theres a lot of crap that needs to go…….. Like me……..

As for gaming there will be more hardcore modified Dick Trickle racing action in NASCAR: Dirt to Daytona……. Getting down and dirty in WRC 10…….. And I will play another obscure racing game…….. I hope its better than Dakar ‘97…….

Well thats it from me…… Hope all you tuxers have a good week……

Now for my bad joke of the week……
First rule of Vegan Club....... Tell EVERYONE about Vegan Club......
*ba dum.... tssssh…...*