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Leave behind your Mini Metro and enter a world of drivers with unpronounceable names and long-legged girls wearing sunglasses on top of their heads. Accolade is set to take the world Formula 1 racing by storm and Ciaran Brennan's going along for the ride.

Distinctive Software Inc seems to revel in producing simulations of 'flash' motors. First there was Test Drive (featuring Ferraris, Porsches, Corvettes and the like) then its sequel The Duel, and now, the flashiest of the lot, a simulation of a complete Formula One season.

But where the other programs were seemingly pointless trips in the country, this time there's method in the madness. There are three distinctly different cars to master, eight courses to learn and five skill levels - each with its own championship to be decided.

The five levels go from rookie (where it's impossible to spin off, the car can't be damaged and the gears change automatically) through to professional, with the opposition improving accordingly.

Points are awarded in a similar fashion to the real thing: nine for a win, seven for second place, and so on. The season lasts for eight weeks and can be saved at any point (there's room on the disk for up to nine saved positions).

Most previous attempts at recreating high-speed motor racing on computers have failed for one reason or another: some have been oppressively technical, while others have spoiled any impression of realism by sending a blocky motor around a jerky course.

Grand Prix Circuit however has got it just right. There's only one choice really - which car to compete in - and once that's out of the way it's straight into the cockpit of a realistically moving vehicle racing along mostly accurate tracks. I say mostly accurate because some (Monaco, for exmple) could have benefited from having a few hills and bumps to go along with the perfect straights and corners.

There are other elements notable by their absence - weather conditions for one - and the opposition's cars could have done with a little animation to complement their excellent look.

But if it's a dose of good, no-nonsense racing action you're after, Grand Prix Circuit is the first to offer excitement, realism and progressive competition all rolled up into one.