At the European headquarters of car manufacturer Ford in Cologne, Germany, five dedicated gamers successfully broke the record for the Longest marathon on a racing game.
They played Forza Motorsport 6 using the Ford GT race car for a staggering 48 hr 29 min 21 sec.
The team consisted of Andrea Lorenzo Facchinetti (Italy), Cara Scott (UK), Hèlène Cressot (France), Jesús Sicilian Sánchez (Spain) and Johannes Knapp (Germany), and they completed a combined total of 41,004 virtual kilometres and 3015 laps over the course of the challenge. That’s equivalent to driving once around the world.
The attempt took place on an Xbox One with Le Mans chosen as the circuit to compete on.
Only allowed short power naps during the attempt, the gamers consumed 32 energy drinks and 3 kilograms of sweets between them over the two days, in a bid to stay awake for as long as possible.
The successful record was announced by official Guinness World Records adjudicator Lena Kuhlmann at the Microsoft stand at Gamescon, an interactive games trade fair in Cologne.
Speaking after handing over an official Guinness World Records certificate to the team, Lena 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 televisions. 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.”
Ford Chip Ganassi Racing driver Stefan Mücke, who has competed in the FIA World Endurance Championship in the Ford GT car, also praised the sleep-deprived drivers: “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.”
The previous record was achieved by Kenny Drews and Florian Fleissuer (both Germany), who played Need for Speed: Most Wanted (EA, 2005) for 33 hours in Langenhagen, Hanover, Germany, from 31 May to 1 June 2013, taking centre stage at a car exhibition for their attempt.