I installed the patch, even though I wasn't having any specific problems.
I'm pleased to say that I still don't have any problems, so definitely no worse off. The only thing I hoped might improve is the damage/collision modelling, but I can't see much if any difference. I still find I can bump off cars even head on at high speed as if I were driving a dodgem at the fair!
However, this is a minor niggle. The most important point is this - there is no other game or series that can keep my enjoyment and deliver such value for many as the GP series.
I buy a lot of games, mostly driving games, and most fail to hold my attention for more than a week or two at most. I bought Total Immersion Racing 2 weeks ago, and am bored already, because it just doesn't offer the thrill or realism of head to head racing in a real car.
Each of the GP series has managed exactly that, allowing you to really feel the excitement of pushing your concentration and ability to the absolute limit against realistic opponents. It also keeps offering harder and harder challenges as your skill improves, without forcing you to follow a "career" route.
The only time I have ever stopped playing the GP games is when the next one came out, often 2 or more years later.
There can be no better measure of a game than that, and for that enjoyment, I am willing to live with a few bugs.
Let's give Geoff Crammond and all the development team the credit they deserve and stop abusing them.
Ali