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Tuesday, July 29, 2008

The Fastest Drivers, Teams


When you think Forza Motorsport 2, what's one of the first things that comes to mind? Many people will immediately point out the amazing customization that players are doing to their virtual rides. Others may mention the diverse range of people who play the game on a regular basis. Or perhaps, given the nature of the beast, Forza 2 is really about the scoreboards, which record the fastest racers per class and track. Well, for a sizeable group of Forza-obsessives, the game is really just a platform upon which they record their speed-devil feats. These are the hotlappers who hone their craft with steady thumbs and feet each day and, obsessed with scoreboard rankings, are determined to make the top of the elite online list, fighting for every last tenths of a second, all in the spirit of a clean competition.

These hotlappers are a hardcore group of dedicated drivers and tuners who will not settle for anything less than their absolute best. Whether they are working on their online Time Trial and Hot Lap stats, dominating the competition over Xbox LIVE, participating in our Weekly Hotlap Challenge, tweaking their custom rides or racing in tournaments, these players will stop at nothing to reach the top… and stay there. As you can imagine when these kinds of people are thrown into the ring the results can be pretty amazing, and at times, nearly impossible to equal.
Over the past year the racing and hotlapping community has shown us just how competitive they really are, setting amazingly fast lap times and breaking records that are easily out of reach of the casual player. These hotlappers thrive off of each other’s abilities, and when someone steps on their turf they are very quick to reclaim the throne. These are the kinds of drivers that can set amazingly fast laps, on any track with any car, without hesitation. In fact certain drivers are often considered to be in a class of their own, the “Elites of Forza”, a term coined by the very community from which they came. They are undeniably some of the fastest and most consistent players in the world, and thanks to our scoreboards they have the numbers and stats to back it all up.

Let’s take iPicaso aka. Kjmj Raikkonen for example. Known as one of the fastest racers in the world, iPicaso did not disappoint during the launch of Turn 10’s official Hotlap Challenge. For 4 week’s straight iPicaso set the number one time on our custom leaderboard, easily surpassing the other 4000+ players who submitted their fastest lap. In fact it was only until a 1 Million credit bounty was put on the top spot that this winning streak came to an end, and it just goes to show you that iPicaso is indeed one of the best.

In similar fashion, V12 BackONEAbS carried his former team the Italian Pro Racers to victory in our first ever Hotlap Season, after what is undoubtedly one of the best performances of the year. Considering the fact that nearly every racing team in the Forza 2 community was eagerly anticipating the first ever Hotlap Season, it was remarkable to see BackONE’s gamertag at the top of the list for 5 consecutive weeks! Throw in the fact that BackONE is also ranked number 1 on our Time Trial scoreboard, and you have yourself enough evidence to support claims that V12 BackONEAbS is also one of the fastest racers in the game.
Much like BackONE carried his team to victory in our challenge, R2P KimiMatt put forth an amazing effort while representing Racing to Perfection in Season 2 of our Hotlap Challenge. Finishing the season with the fastest time 3 out of 5 weeks, KimiMatt secured enough points along with him teammates to take down the defending champs IPR. He is also ranked at number 2 on our overall Time Trial roll-up, and is easy to spot on the B, C and D class scoreboards…just look near the top.

This speed from Racing to Perfection definitely doesn’t dead end with KimiMatt however, as teammate R2P CoNCepT has dominated multiple tournaments this year hosted by the IFCA. Such a high level of skill is shown during all IFCA events, and walking away with victories in multiple events is no easy task. If that wasn’t enough, he is also currently ranked 1st on the overall Hotlap roll-up scoreboard. The overall time for every class on every track is combined to create this total, and CoNCepT currently holds the fastest overall time, quite the achievement.

Fellow teammates R2P Chemical and R2P Greeksniper complete the R2P dream time, and have both had solid representation on our FM2 scoreboards. Chemical is currently sitting in the 4th position on our overall Hotlap scoreboard; just one position behind teammate Greeksniper, who was recently ranked as the fastest driver in the world by the IFCA. All in all you could say that Racing to Perfection is one of the fastest Forza 2 teams on the planet, a team that has the ability to take on the best of the best.

Now of course R2P are not the only ones showing amazing speed, as teams like TRC, VVV and SqR have had a strong presence over the past year. Of course V12’s amazing performance in season 3 of our Hotlap Challenge has proven their abilities in comparison to the rest of the field as well. With members like Nikrox (Master of R Class) and Ermy (10th overall in Time Trials) combined with BackONE’s dominating abilities, V12 is looking like the team to beat from here on out.

So the question is--who will step up to the challenge? It could be VVV Daveyskills, who’s last ditch effort allowed him to jump from 6th to 2nd in Season 2 of our Hotlap Challenge. Perhaps it will be the mysterious xxD4RK SP33Dxx who suddenly appeared at 3rd place on our Time Trial leaderboard. Maybe past legends like General E Live, X Cam X, or PotzyPLOP will make a return to the scoreboards? The outcome is unclear; however with so many fast drivers lurking within our community one thing is very clear…racing and hotlapping in Forza Motorsport 2 will only get more competitive as time goes on.

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