Folks, I (vef149), BigBrewksy(Lim3y) and BeastCharmer(03beastcharmer) made it yesterday.
Unfortunately the PS3 online network killed the fun as racing starts never worked correctly.
LiM3y, thanks for persisting in organizing this even though the showing is not what I expected
I will try something more spontaneous and post here with instructions and times on how to join a race whenever I am online lapping around (no need for friend requests on the PS3 network and such). The participant limit is 16 but based on experience so far it will take a miracle to fill it up.
I will continue to tune in to LiM3y's lounge on Mondays and hopefully the ps3 network works and people join too.