I think you ' re completely right to say theres merit in both structures . The more restricted route is , for me , more satisfying as I feel like I ' m being rewarded for doing well , unlocking better cars and ' earning ' my way through the game . That said , it is nice to be able to try out a range of different cars without having to complete 50 % of the game . IMO , each of the 5 festival sites should have a championship with more traditional linear progression , so for example with Surfers Paradise , you ' d unlock the festival site and get access to a C class championship , once you beat that it unlocks a B class championship and so on . There could be multiple championships per class like an asphalt only , an offroad and a mixed surface championship giving you 9 races per class , per festival site which you need to progress through . All the individual races could remain as they are , open to whatever car you want to use in them . I feel like that would give a good mix of both approaches .