GP4 1994 Mod features on Trevor Sports

Around a year ago, I came across a YouTube channel called Trevor Sports. It triggered all my boyhood nostalgia, reminding me of Saturday afternoons as a kid watching TV in the UK. Grandstand was the show on the BBC, featuring various sports including F1 qualifying coverage. Presenters Steve Rider and Des Lynam were household names, with Murray Walker and James Hunt, and laterly Jonathan Palmer were on commentary. The BBC coverage was beamed all around the world to other English speaking nations that makes these names familiar to many.

Trevor has recreated that style and personalities on various games and started a classic season on good old GP4. The age old quesion of what would have happened had Senna not passed away in Imola is about to be simulated. How would the Championship have played out? 

Trevor has already recorded and released the first four races, but for round 5 in Spain, the series now features my updates in the 1994 Mod v4.0, and I'm grateful to be included in the credits at the end. 

When I first watched the series, it provided me with a real motivation to get the 1994 mod in a position to be released, which I was able to do on GP4's 20th anniversary earlier this year. Since then I've released two more cars and I've got a few more updates finished and some nearly finished and I hope to be able to get an updated mod to you before Christmas.

But until then, sit back and enjoy a bit of nostalgia, listen to the fantastic and familiar commentary as you watch the beautiful 1994 cars do in GP4 battle for the 1994 championship.

You can catch the whole season on the playlist here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tTQArm2RA7c&list=PLnFerNuEE98KYEaAl2SM0nBC_nezboonr&index=5

To read more about the 1994 mod, you can read about it here: https://fongugp4.blogspot.com/

GP4: 2022 Alfa Romeo C42

As we begin the final weekend of the 2022 season today, I'm delighted to be able to have finished another 2022 car and share it with you GP4 fans. This is the Alfa Romeo C42. 

2022 Alfa Romeo C42 by Fongu

The car is built from the Hinwil based of the team formerly known as Sauber and is powered by the Ferrari power train. The competitiveness dropped of by mid-season, with Zhou suffering a massive crash in Silverstone, landing sideways between two barriers. Thankfully he was extracted and not seriously injured. Going into the final race of the season, they lead the battle for 6th in the Constructors’ Championship. 

There are so many great sources around today to help me model the cars accurately compared to when I first started making cars for GP4, and I've tried to keep these cars as simple as I can so that it runs well on lower end machines. On that, I'm grateful once more to Carl_gpgames for making lods for this car. Even things like tiny logos are much easier to find nowadays, which all helds speed up production of these cars.

This car comes with two special liveries as seen in Baku and Monza. 

2022 Alfa Romeo C42 Azerbaijan GP livery by Fongu

This livery, run at the Azerbaijan GP was to celebrate the launch of the Tonale road car, an electic SUV. The added green is to make the car into a giant Italian flag with the hue of colours the colours tweak to match the green in the Montreal Tonale launch as well as a nod to it's green initiatives going forward and the deeper Alfa red. The Tonale has distinctive headlights, forming a 'UUU' shape and that's the reason that's on the livery in white on the engine cover and darker green on the sidepods. 

2022 Alfa Romeo C42 Italian GP livery by Fongu

Alfa Romeo, since it linked up with Sauber, has been using various old Alfa Romeo logos in it's time in F1. Just search for Alfa Romeo logo history and you'll see how the emblem has evolved over the years. The nose and engine cover logo on the standard livery is based on the 1922 font. In the Italian GP at Monza, the nose logo was replaced with the logo used in the 1940s and 50s. 

On the right side engine cover only, they have replaced the text with their emblem. Alfa Romeo, originally founded in Milan, has many nods to its history.  The cross is St. George's cross, associated with medieval Milanese soldiers during the time of the crusades, clearly backing the 'Christian' side. What I didn't know until I did a bit of research was that the serpent, Biscione, is eating a guy, the emblem being associated with the Visconti family of the 11th Century and linked with Milan. The guy getting eaten is in relation once more to the crusades, presumably a muslim, but it's still a bit open for debate. The crown relates to the family becoming Dukes in the 15th Century. The serpent itself is new, but clearly inspired from the past, so I had to paint it from scratch. It's a fascinating history if you wanted to read more into it. 

Thanks once more to Carl_gpgames for the screenshots and all that's left to do is share the pack with you, enjoy. 

GP4: 2022 Mexican and Sao Paulo helmets

Hey there race fans. Today I present to you various helmets from the last two races in Mexico and Sao Paulo (I still can't stop calling it the Brazilian GP). There are 10 new designs to show you and one variant added to the 2022 helmet pack. 

Sebastian Vettel - Mexican GP

Sebastian Vettel 2022 Mexican GP helmet

It was a real loss to that the world now that we are without Dietrich Mateschitz. He has done so much good without flaunting it or seeking business wealth, and that is no more evident than his contributions to F1. He did it for the love of it, and for sure F1 would be in much more dire circumstances without him. Seb dedicated this whole helmet to his memory, and based the design on his first helmet when he was signed as a Red Bull junior back in 1998, complete with Red Bull logos and the text replaced with 'Danke Didi'. As most juniors had essentially the same design back in the day, this helmet in a green Aston did bring back memories of Klien in a green Jaguar. 

Max Verstappen - Mexican & Sao Paulo GP

Max Verstappen 2022 World Champion helmet

Having clinched his second Championship early, Max has decided to wear a gold based helmet for the rest of the season. In Mexico, the helmet was gold-plated, whilst in Brazil it was chrome gold. Basically the Brazilian version was super shiny and both versions of the helmet are included in this pack, with the differences in the alpha channel.The Mexico edition features real 22-karat gold leaf, the real one not mine! 

Lando Norris - Mexican GP

Lando Norris 2022 Mexican GP helmet

Norris basically got someone to vandalise his helmet with spray paint. That person was artist Jimmy Pierce.

Sergio Perez - Mexican GP

Sergio Perez 2022 Mexican GP helmet

Checo says this is the most Mexican helmet he's ever done with this luchador-style helmet with el Día de los Muertos inspired skull at the front, and various Papel Picado designs. A lovely livery from MDM Designs. 

GP4: 2022 Alpine A522 v1.1 by fongu

Thanks to some feedback from some of you guys, I've done a quick update on the blue livery on the Alpine. There were some comments about it being too light, so I've taken that onboard and decided on the same blue colour as the car from the Codemasters F1 game. I had upped the highlights effect on the original car, but I've toned that back down for this livery to the normal amount I would normally use. I've also updated the Plug Power logo to match the mid-late season version on the front fin. 

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Added 8th November

Fixed the front suspension where one of the Genii logos was missing

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Sorry that there's no new screenshots, but the links are the same as before. 

GP4: 2022 Alpine A522 by fongu

I've taken a little break from creating helmets to bring you something I've spent a bit of time working on recently. This is the fourth car I've been able to release for the 2022 season and will be featured in the 2022 mod for GP4.

2022 Alpine A522 by fongu

Yes, here's the Alpine, and by popular demand, it comes along with the all pink livery as seen in the first two races of the season. The standard blue livery has reduced paintwork, as with many other teams, this was done in an effort to save weight. Personally, the launch liveries of both variations were truly terrible, but the iterations that arrived in Bahrain and later raced were much better. 

At the time of writing, Alpine are locked in a battle for 4th in the Constructors Title fight with McLaren, with the French team favourites to secure the position. The team were involved in some controversy when first, in advanced negotiations to secure Alonso to an extended contract, were caught out when he was announced to drive for Aston Martin in 2023. Alpine, in response, then announced that junior driver, Oscar Piastri would drive for them in 2023, only for the driver to announce he would not be doing so. Indeed he would soon be confirmed to drive for McLaren in the following season.

2022 Alpine A522 by fongu

This car is made for GP4 and my thanks goes to Carl_gpgames for once again creating lods for me. 

Here's a few more screens, courtesy of Carl_gpgames.

2022 Alpine A522 by fongu

2022 Alpine A522 by fongu