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World record: Gamers race GTs for an incredible 48 hours!

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<B>NO REST, GREAT VICTORY</B> Gamers battled exhaustion for 48 hours to complete a record drive in a virtual Ford GT. <I>Image: NewsPress</I>
<B>NO REST, GREAT VICTORY</B> Gamers battled exhaustion for 48 hours to complete a record drive in a virtual Ford GT. <I>Image: NewsPress</I>

Germany - Five bleary-eyed gamers each completed an incredible two-day stint at the wheel of a virtual Ford GT race car, in Forza Motorsport 6, to set a new Guinness world record for the “longest video marathon in a racing game”.

Gamers Cara Scott (UK), Helene Cressot (France), Johannes Knapp (Germany), Andrea Lorenzo Facchinetti (Italy) and Jesús Sicilia Sánchez (Spain), took on a simulated version of the La Sarthe circuit, used for the Le Mans 24 Hours, where the Ford GT race car achieved a historic victory earlier in 2016.

Record-braking 'drive'

Driving for 48hrs 29min 21 seconds and completing a combined 41 004 virtual kilometres and 3015 laps, the gamers survived on power naps, sweets and soft drinks as they broke the previous record of 48 hours 1 minute.

The Guinness World Records title was later presented on the Microsoft stand at Gamescom, Europe’s biggest interactive games trade fair, in Cologne, Germany.

Image: NewsPress

READ: Ford GT production extended by two more years

Ford Chip Ganassi Racing driver Stefan Mücke said: “They did an amazing job. Just like driving at the real Le Mans, this achievement required extreme levels of concentration, attention to detail, and most importantly endurance - because they had to keep going for twice as long as we did.”

Mücke competes in the FIA World Endurance Championship in the Ford GT.

Compared with Mücke’s 136 laps of Le Mans - completed during 9:05.40 hours of real world driving - the five gamers averaged 603 laps each over 48:29.21 hours of virtual driving during the challenge with Forza Motorsport 6 for Xbox One, at Ford’s European headquarters, also in Cologne.

Bizarre, insane diet

Their combined 41 004 kilometres is equivalent to driving once around the world. To stay awake for two nights straight, they drank 32 energy drinks, 146 bottles of water and 47 bottles of soft drinks, and consumed more than 3 kilograms of sweets.

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Lena Kuhlmann, official adjudicator, Guinness World Records, said: “For me, it’s incredible to see anyone stay up all night, whether it’s for a bumper car marathon or four days of watching television

“Two days of race gaming is a superlative effort. The endurance of the gamers is remarkable. They were engaged, concentrating and having fun even after the record was broken. It’s also great to have the actual Ford GT in view, to keep the gamers from getting completely immersed in the virtual world.”

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