Top 10 Race Tracks

Here is a countdown of the top 10 racing tracks found on the Xbox 360 (including Xbox Originals which are backwards compatible), most of these can be found on many different gaming platforms, but here I‘m concentrating on those tracks accessible to you guys.

10 – Donington Park

Popular games featuring Donington Park:
Race Driver Grid (Xbox 360)

Real Life Stats
Location: North West Leicestershire, England
Circuit Length: 2.5 Miles
Turns: 12

If you’re one of those speed freaks then this is a good track for you to stretch those wheels.  The majority of turns on Donington Park won’t challenge you too much but there’s two tight hairpins to keep your eye on.  The track doesn’t look like much from the track map but it’s fun to drive.

9 – Brands Hatch

Popular games featuring Brands Hatch:
RACE Pro (Xbox 360)

Real Life Stats
Location: Kent, England
Circuit Length: 2.301 Miles
Turns: 9

This track is quite varied in that you have some sections you can take at high speeds and other sections that can feel like a rollercoaster.  The first corner for example can be taken at a high speed but go too fast and you’ll not be on the track for long.  It’s not one of the easiest tracks to drive but it’s nowhere near the hardest.

8 – Monza

(Autodromo Nazionale Monza)

Popular games featuring Monza:
RACE Pro (Xbox 360)

Real Life Stats
Location: Monza, Italy
Circuit Length: 3.6 Miles
Turns: 10

The long straights on this track send you straight into a false sense of security (in a similar way that Le Mans does).  I recently raced this track on RACE Pro just to recap my memory and a few times I believed I could take some of the corners at the speed I was going only to be so very wrong and instantly lost my place in the race.  My advice is to not be afraid to slow down a little bit earlier than your brain tells you.

7 – New York Long/Short

Popular games featuring New York Long/Short:
Forza Motorsport (Long & Short) (Xbox, Backwards Compatible)
Forza Motorsport 2 (Short only) (Xbox 360)

Stats
This is a fictional track.  The Long version can only be found in Forza Motorsport but the short version is found in both Forza Motorsport 1 & 2

Track Version: New York Long
Location: New York, USA
Circuit Length: 3.9 Miles
Turns: 13

Track Version: New York Short
Location: New York, USA
Circuit Length: 1.8 Miles
Turns: 5

For those of you fortunate enough to have either played the first Forza, or even better still have the first Forza then you will have had the pleasure of racing on the New York Long track.  I don’t know why it wasn’t included in Forza 2.  The long version of this track not only took you down the streets of New York, but through buildings too.  The sharp 90 degree corners can cause even the AI to pile up.

6 – Road America

Popular games featuring Road America:
Forza Motorsport (Xbox, Backwards Compatible)
Forza Motorsport 2 (Xbox 360)
RACE Pro (Xbox 360)

Real Life Stats
Location: Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin
Circuit Length: 4.048 Miles
Turns: 14

Road America is full of subtle chicanes just after the first turn which can be skilfully taken to give you the edge and overtake many opponents.  Like the 24 Hour Le Mans, Road America also has a long straight near the end where you have to carefully judge when to brake before the chicane, I’ve lost count of the amount of times I’ve messed this one up trying to overtake, then getting a face full of sand slowing me right down losing me the race.

5 – Maple Valley Raceway

Popular games featuring Maple Valley:
Forza Motorsport (Xbox, Backwards Compatible)
Forza Motorsport 2 (Xbox 360)

Stats
This is a fictional track found only in Forza Motorsport 1 & 2

Track Version: Maple Valley I
Location: New England, USA
Circuit Length: 2.97 Miles
Turns: 12

Track Version: Maple Valley II (Short)
Location: New England, USA
Circuit Length: 0.2492 Miles
Turns: 6

I personally love this track for both its environment and for its challenges.  Maple Valley is permanently set in Autumn which gives the trees their brown look and the sun shining through the trees onto the track looks gorgeous.  The short track is ok for racing on your own but the long track is more fun and suited better for online play.

4 – Silverstone Circuit

Popular games featuring Silverstone:
Forza Motorsport (Xbox, Backwards Compatible)
Forza Motorsport 2 (Xbox 360)

Real Life Stats
Location: Northamptonshire and Buckinghamshire, England
Track Version: Grand Prix Circuit
Circuit Length: 3.194 Miles
Turns: 17
Track Version: National Circuit
Circuit Length: 1.639 Miles
Turns: 6

Silverstone is available in various lengths, the shorter National Circuit is the most recognisable at a glance.  It’s a great circuit for achieving top speeds but you need to be careful of the turns at the end of the straights, as they can be very deceiving and catch you off guard.

3 – Le Mans 24 Hour Circuit

(Circuit de la Sarthe)

Popular games featuring the Le Mans 24 Hour:
Race Driver Grid (Xbox 360)

Real Life Stats
Location: Le Mans, France
Circuit Length: 8.469 Miles
Turns: 21

This track is great for long sessions and to get together with your friends on Xbox Live.  It doesn’t matter how many times you may have driven on this track as there will always be something to throw you off, especially on the long straights where it turns into a game of dare where you’re waiting to see who will brake first before the chicane, brake too late however and you will find yourself ploughing into a wall of tires.  The rest of the track is straight forward, although if you’re playing Race Driver Grid where you have the day and night cycle some of the turns seem to disappear at night making you even more cautious.

2 – Laguna Seca Raceway

Popular games featuring the Laguna Seca Raceway:
Forza Motorsport (Xbox, Backwards Compatible)
Forza Motorsport 2 (Xbox 360)
RACE Pro (Xbox 360)

Real Life Stats
Location: Monterey, California, USA
Circuit Length: 2.238 Miles
Turns: 11

The Laguna Seca Raceway is one of my memorable favourites.  It’s perfect for driving on your own to get that perfect lap time, or in a group online, especially if you know how to take the corkscrew, that section always throws people off no matter how many times you’ve driven on this track.

1 – Nürburgring Nordschleife

Popular games featuring the Nürburgring:
Project Gotham Racing 2 (Xbox, Backwards Compatible)
Forza Motorsport (Xbox, Backwards Compatible)
Project Gotham Racing 3 (Xbox 360)
Project Gotham Racing 4 (Xbox 360)
Forza Motorsport 2 (Xbox 360)

Real Life Stats:
Location: Nürburg, Germany
Circuit Length: 12.93 Miles
Turns: 73

This is one of the ultimate tracks, the track that sorts out the men from the boys (or in my case, women from the girls).  This track features virtually every type of turn to test both vehicles and drivers to their limits.  I tested myself using the Nürburgring Nordschleife the other day by booting up PGR 4, setting the weather conditions to heavy snow, driving the Aston Martin DBR9 (in-car view), and with no map to guide me, and I was surprised at how much I remembered.  Sure I came off the track a few times, but I got a great sense of achievement upon crossing the finishing line.

I hope you agree with me on most of these, its all a matter of opinion, I just felt that these tracks deserve recognition for all the fun I’ve had out of them!