May the Forza be with you...

Monday 10 August

Forget Michael Schumacher’s comeback to Formula 1. The big news in car racing at the moment is that I got to go around the Nurburgring in an Audi R8 V10 to get a grasp of how the track performs before getting an exclusive look at Forza Motorsport 3!

So, how’s Forza Motorsport 3 shaping up? Well the similarities with driving on the real track are uncanny. Positioning the car and braking zones are nigh-on spot on and graphics are about as realistic as I’ve seen in a driving game.

It’ll hit the stores in October with 400 different cars, 50 different manufacturers and 100 tracks (both real and fantasy). New features in Forza 3 include the one-button assisted driving, interior cock-pit view and perfect line driving (an arrow on the track for you to follow). There’s even a rewind feature (think Prince of Persia) that allows you to re-take that corner you crashed into the first time. Alternatively you could just turn off all these assists and do it for yourself.

After setting a time of 8 minutes 52 seconds on the real Nurburgring (albeit with a driver!) I got the chance to go on the virtual circuit and try and beat our time. Check out my lap here…