MICHAEL WATTS - BRITISH GT CHAMPION

[Rob]

WE HAVE A WINNER....​

Congratulations to Michael Watts who battled through the loss of a wheel a little over half way through, stiff competition, pit bugs galore, and some quality talent to win the first Xbox One / Project Cars League Series here at Race Department.

Michael is perhaps the best blend of natural talent and determination. As has been proven by my third place finish, sometimes you can just "show up" and get a podium, but it takes more to get the Series win. And it's not just speed, but dedication. Great job Michael...and thanks for being such a consistent and valued driver. And thanks also for sticking it out. One day, I'm sure we will have more pummeling to look forward to once you get that wheel you love.

Also great job Eric. Thoughts go back to the Grid Autosport Series, where Michael came in like a lamb and out like a lion. It still boggles my mind how you had a very legitimate shot at the title at the last race, considering your early races. Most improved is an understatement.

Thanks also to Peter Hooper for Co-Directing this league and the Railer Cantrell for Stewarding. Peter, you are simply a rock...and your calm demeanor and willingness to go outside of your favorite discipline (quite often) is so refreshing. I could not have done it without you, as there were many times the game itself seemed to conspire against us. And Railer, we miss you buddy. I know you would have finished much higher if you had been able to make them all, but we know you were there in spirit. The Oil Sheiks were quite happy with a team #2. Too bad that promise of 40 virgins for a win was not to be. I'm not sure I'd know what to do with them anyway.

So many others I can think of made this Series a blast, like boothy, Nic, Chips, and Queso. And there are so many more...thank you all for helping make this often maddening ("Great idea Rob...let's be the Guinea Pig league for the first console SIM") title turn into a bright shining star...once a few patches sailed in. Hope to see you all in future races.

Final Standings:
1. Watts - 177
2. Eric - 163.5
3. Robert - 112
4. Chips - 110
5. Matthew S. - 68
6. Ceaser - 62
7. Peter H. - 60
8. Railer - 58
9. Dylan - 37.5
10. Dan - 37
11. Peter E. - 36.5
12, Alex - 27
13. Boothy - 26
14. Nic - 12
14. Rob P. - 2


Best Always,
Rob W.

 

[Michael Watts]

Thanks for the kind words, Robert!

 

[Peter Hooper]

Definitely a very worthy winner of this inaugral series on Project Cars and it's been great to have been able to be see Michaels progress from that initial Grid Autosport race at Okatuma.. I remember it well as I had him filling my mirrors for some time before getting past me towards the end. Great accomplishment Michael and there is certainly nothing wrong with achieving by dint of work ethic buddy, if anything it's actually more impressive because you have to put in much more effort to reach the pinnacle, thats exactly how I would prefer to do it. CONGRATS CHAMP!!

 

[Peter Hooper]

One other thing that I feel has to be mentioned and it's been a bit remiss of me to not do so sooner is to congratualte a certain somebody on their own achievement in this series and also subsequently races in other forms of racing. A certain Mr @Robert Waddell has made a very significant step up in perfromance since the release of Project Cars and having been watching a number of videos of his recently I am amazed at the level of improvement he has achieved in a very short space of time. His pace and consistency have become all too apparent in the GT and GP3 series just finished and the Historic F1 series that is just starting but also unknown to some on here I am sure is how well he is currently doing in F1 2015 with some very impressive drives at Spa, Monza and Suzuka. All the while of course this very impressive improvement has been made against the backdrop of organising and administering the Project Cars series which is no small undertaking and also trying to get some form of online racing going with F1 2015.

Well done buddy. Looking forward to watching more of this rise towards the upper echelons of sim racing over the coming months I'll be trying to hang on to your coat tails as you go .

 

[Michael Watts]

 

[Rob]

First, thanks Peter and Michael. You know we do this out of love, and that we finally had a proper SIM to race. If you would have told me that I can have jaw dropping weather transition, pits (finally), the most intricate of tuning options available (by far, although I saw confirmed on the forums yesterday that camber is broken and always has been, and that the only "reaction" the game has to camber is rolling resistance, which means all vehicles should be very low or none, since that resistance goes down with less camber ), cars and tracks that finally look "real," no leveling up, no parts to buy (we all know real drivers don't speak techie, lol), and physics that only PC guys could access, but...you can only play online in a very limited way and bugs everywhere, I'd have said "yes, absolutely" because simply somebody needs to try. And that's what we did, when others folded.

Lots of people gave up. I was lucky enough to have great gamers who have all been at this longer than I have, and are as stubborn. lol. We have the best group of drivers. You all and others who ventured outside their comfort zone, like the Indy drivers I respect so much, or the F1 talent, or the superspeedway racers, and tried other games and types of cars and racing, like F1 to GT, and vice versa, with the occasional oval thrown in, the more my respect grown.

As for most improved, I'll take it. lol. But I'd have to turn it over to Eric, as he really just shot to the top after one season. Something I could never do. But it's interesting what you said Michael. I do think as we get closer to what PC guys have, the more this stuff gets closer to a real pro SIM. And that means we have to get closer to those brave guys we love so much, even if it's just virtual.

Thanks again guys. You all make this stuff worth doing.