PS2 crashes to desktop after load screen

[Daimler]

Hi all,
I used to play PS2 religiously, but had to stop. Got an email from DayBreak, decided to try it again:

clean install
all divers, software/firmware, hardware updated
more than enough specs to run the game/

the launcher works fine but on the load screen, when the "load progress bar" reaches the end, the game crashes to desktop.

file validation checked out,
Direct X checked out (dxdiag)
even changed the user ini to full screen as I saw in some posts...
still nothing.
any advice?