After getting my copy of PC Gamer in the mail this month and reading the "Sim Column" by Andy Mahood, I set out to try the Power and Glory mod which was recently released by GT Legends Workshop. The mod was based similarly off of Simbin's GT Legends game, but the mod group decided to use GTR2 for the project, given it's additional improvement in many areas over the original GT Legends.
Having already spent quite a bit of time with GT Legends my primary interest in this mod was for the IROC classic Porsches that were used in the inagural season of IROC Racing. Boy am I glad I was able to get in these things, as they are a real pleaure to drive. They are certainly a challenge, and even after spending a good portion of the weekend with the car, I am still not as competitive as I would like to be on laptimes at RiverSide 1970 and Daytona Road Course . I am still no match for the top AI cars of Mark Donohue and Emerson Fittipaldi for instance.
So with some laps under my belt I decided to run the Championship that the game includes, allowing you to simulate the 1974 IROC Season. It is very authentic. You run the first 3 rounds at Riverside and the Finale at Daytona. In the first race, at Riverside I was pretty excited as even though I would qualify poorly I was running as high as 5th in the event, until I realized that I was really abusing my tires. I would fade back to 9th, where I would finish round 1 and watch David Pearson of NASCAR fame win the race.

NASCAR famed David Pearson Wins the first race at Riverside
The 2nd two races at Riverside were won by Mark Donohue; keeping with history of how a lot of things played out in the real series back in 1974, Mark was definitely the car to beat. As far as my racing at Riverside went. Well, it pretty much peaked with my 9th place finish in the first round. I would finish 11th in the 2nd race, having a series of mistakes, and trying too hard, and the only car behind me was a damaged AJ Foyt. In the 3rd race, again I wasn't as competitive and had tried a little different approach, but wound up 12th, and last after a major accident (solo of course).

Mark Donohue Pictured at Riverside where he was the man to beat and very consistent
By the time the final race at Daytona Road Course was upon us I had found the additional 4 setups that are provided by the GT Legends Workshop mod team. They are installed into your base default GTR2 directory, and you have to know they are there or you would likely miss them, as I did for the first 3 races. The cool thing about these setups is that they are authentic and the actual setups from the period. I loaded up the Daytona Setup that was used, and away I went. I was much more competitive running as high as 4th in the race, and fading some at the end, but still would finish 8th. Not a stellar run by many means, but fun nonetheless. I had a good race with a couple of cars during the event which was nice.
When it was all said and done my simulated 1974 IROC series was pretty accurate. Donohue would finish 2nd in the race at Daytona and clinch the Championship, and Fittipaldi was second. I managed to finish in 9th of the 12 drivers, woohoo! )

Here I am at Daytona Road Course in the Chicane
The only thing I think would have made it even cooler was if the Daytona Road Course that we have for GTR2 was from the period. That would have been awesome. But nonetheless, I was happy to run these car's on Alex Ulleri's conversion ...
So, if you havent already, be sure to get this mod, it is definitely worth it. To use it you will need both GT Legends CD/DVD and GTR2. So unless you already have those games it could be expensive to get your hands on this thing, but it is certainly worth the money spent on the games now, or for good replay value.


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