FH5, Series 32, Week 1

I fast travelled in my 1953 Corvette to a spot near the telescope, drove towards it, and completed the treasure hunt. I spent the credits on that race suit, although I haven’t seen clothing in the wheel spins in ages.

I did the weekly in the Impreza. No problems. Even got six stars in drift zones in two goes.

Only one Eventlab event this week, the beautifully made, but rather annoying Take no Michi “Night Race”. In essence it was a squitty little cross-country race which we had to do in rally cars. Was this meant to be some sort of drift circuit?

The photo challenge was to take a picture of an off-road car with Uxmal in the background.

We had to use the new Raptor for the monthly rivals. It chugged round River Scramble and seemed pretty decent stock. Vista del Mar in the new Mustang was a bit more fraught. Early braking need for sharp corners, and I twice just managed to avoid clonking a wall.

One PR stunt. Not the worst danger sign for the possibility of hitting trees, but annoying nonetheless to keep hitting them whether I tried to jump to the left, middle or right. Two-thirds very good SWS.

I used the HA to complete another accolade, the one in the Napier Railton.

I ended up doing quite well in the Eliminator until I crashed into something solid going down the motorway. Didn’t care, though, because my job was done.

Four seasonals this week for obvious reasons. Racing the Streets was Street Scene, and because I dislike Street Scene, I did it first. What did I drive in it? I can’t recall. Oh well, more old person problems. The reward was a 2003 Ford Focus. Why don’t they ask us if we want it, and if not, we get the equivalent cash value or, say, the points to complete the playlist? No, I don’t need another old Ford Focus.

A Good Sport was a catalogue of annoying off-road races. The one in Guanajuato is likely to be frustrating because of the final jump, although I didn’t have the drivatars racing past me to claim victory at the last minute. Copper Canyon can also be a nightmare with drivatars snatching wins at the last minute. Costa Este fills me with dread because I’ve long known this to be a drivatar cheatfest; and it was again. I did the first two races in the BMW X6M (probably not the best choice, but it’s been decent enough previously), but every time I did Costa Esta, four or five drivatars would rapidly take the lead and prove uncatchable. As one of their cheatmobiles was the Lynk & Co. 05+, I built mine to a win.

A Rally Good Trail had me back in the Mitsubishi Evo VIII yet again to win some old Pontiac. Game, just give me the money or the points, and keep the car.

I chose the SLS AMG for Superpowered, Did consider the 812 Superfast and ought to perhaps have opted for the GTC4 Lusso, which seems to be a drivatar cheatmobile in this class. And what was the reward? One of those rubbish off-road Beetles that PGG likes to inflict on us in seasonals.

I one-shotted the HW PR stunt and got an absolutely rubbish SWS.

Cryptic Sightings was a series of races in rally monsters. I ended up in the FE Puma, but can only think my FE 911 was in S2 class, hence it wasn’t an option. The races had to include that awful canyon one where you go through the water as if you’re in concrete Y-fronts while the drivatars swim through the stuff like fish. The reward was a 2018 Megane. Finally something modern.

The PR stunt in Sierra Nueva had to be an annoying speed trap on a short section of road. I PB’ed it and got an atrociously bad SWS.

I picked the Dodge Magnum for From Strength to Strength, although I didn’t feel quite as happy with it on this occasion as I did the previous time. It had a couple of decent wins, but seemed sluggish. I did wonder about the Mustang RTR Spec 5.

Back to Mexico for The Trial. I went through the list of possible options and picked the Eagle Speedster because it had the second best PWR (I baulk at RWD cars for the Trial, hence I preferred the AWD Eagle to the 2020 Supra). I came 2nd in Mulegé behind another player. Team win, but I think a couple of players quit, which helped. However, the clown in the stock car, who had contributed nothing, persisted. Sierra Verde was going quite well, but one player who was stunningly fast in a straight line was very poor at the rest. I passed him, he went flying past me, he cocked up again, and off I went, back into second. It also seemed to be going quite well when it became clear that the winner from the first race had had an accident and was out of the race. I took the lead and won. The team won quite resoundingly. Plaudits all round, and OBE’s in the post.

I haven’t had a decent go with the Artura, but it seems all right out of the box. I want to try the Ginetta again, but restricted to A class to see whether that helps. (Also, there are way more enticing Ginettas than this thing; I must go back to ACC and see what that game has.)

I’ll do what I can to contribute to the Mustang and the Raptor, but next week will continue to be busy, and I’ll have other things to do this weekend.