I have to agree. However, what made GTR2 loved was that it had everything in one package - dynamic weather (albeit bugged), ability to mod cars, tracks and features, reasonabe AI performance, flexible championships and online modes. None of the current sims have all of those features.
+ Safety car phase that works. I can't believe how much fun I have in it. One nice thing some older mods allow larger grids, 60-70 cars in 32bit game - and I honestly cannot see the difference from latest mods, that push game into its memory limits at around 40 cars.