Tomorrow will see a new Guinness World Record set on F1 2011

Tomorrow is the day of the 29th annual Golden Joystick Awards - and GamesRadar's going to be there. But don't think we'll be there solely for the free food, champagne and um... oh yes, the most important videogame awards in the business (they are voted for by you, after all). No - I'm there to set a new Guinness World Record on F1 2011, the wonderful racing game from Codemasters, to which I awarded a 9/10 in our review.

The record I intend to set will be:

Fastest single penalty-free lap of the Buddh International Circuit (dry) in the Xbox 360 version of F1 2011, with default car set-up and no assist restrictions.

Although I'm conscious that repeatedly mentioning it on the site is neither cool nor modest, I'm no stranger to the old Guinness World Records. I have two already. The one I'm most proud of is the Sega Rally Desert Course record for time attack over three laps. You can see that here:

And then at the 2009 Golden Joystick Awards, I beat James Richards by one second to claim the fastest time on the Xbox 360 version of Sonic 2.

Now, I know people have posted faster times on the internet on both of these games - and hats off to them. But Guinness World Records have to be adjudicated, which means you can't just post a video on the net and ask for your certificate. Videos can be faked, leaderboards can be tampered with. It has to be done according to strict rules.

So, for instance, the time at the top of the F1 2011 leaderboards is some 10 seconds faster than the plateau where most of the top times level out. Why? There are claims that the set-up options are exploitable. Incidentally. the ghost replay of that fastest lap is actually easily beatable, not resembling the registered time whatsoever. There's no way that can be classed as an official time without proof.

Above: Of course I'm going to driving a Red Bull. I'd be daft not to!

So tomorrow (unless someone else present can beat me), I will be setting the fastest officially adjudicated lap around the Indian Grand Prix circuit, a track which is new for the GP calendar this year. Don't get me wrong, I'm sure somebody will beat it at some point. In fact, if you do decide to challenge it and go through the whole adjudication process, do let us know and we'll run a story about you on the site.

But if I can at least post a time that's faster than the real F1 drivers (who race on the track for the first time later this month), I'll be happy. Currently, I'm second fastest on the leaderboards of those who used the default car set-ups, so I'm in with a shot.

We'll let you know how it goes. In the mean-time, have a go at the challenge yourself and post your best time in the comments. Remember, default car set-up, but any assists you like. And wish me luck! Of course, I could just go along and do this for a few hours...

It would be time well spent, right?

20 Oct, 2011