The Forza Motorsport 2 team say that they are still gunning for a May release of their Xbox 360 racer. They won't say the specific date, but say that their schedule has them hitting Xbox certification around the middle of April and "going gold soon afterwards."

More importantly the team released the official, though short, list of FM2 tracks.

* Mugello Autodromo Internazionale
* Suzuka Circuit
* Sebring International Raceway
* Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca
* Tsukuba Circuit
* Road Atlanta
* Silverstone Circuit
* N rburgring Nordschleife
* Maple Valley Raceway
* Sunset Peninsula Infield
* New York Circuit
* Test Track

While the list is short, the developers are already saying they will be creating downloadable maps as well that may or may not be free.

Will it be free? We don't know and can't say for sure right now but whatever it ends up becoming, we at Turn 10 aim to do right by the community. Definitely no horse armor here, folks.

Hit the jump to read about three of the developers' favorites among the list and why. Brian Crecente

The Turn 10 Weekly Pitpass Report [Forza 2 Motorsport]

* Chris "Master of Cars" Vanover on Mugello: "After watching the wealth of F1 Mugello footage available and then finally getting some seat time in-game with our cars, I've found myself thinking about taking a trip to Italy for the real thing. Combined with an elevation that varies 135 feet from top to bottom, the track has a great flow to it, and with 15 corners, every completed lap dares you to find even one place to go just a little faster. Like anywhere else, however, consistency is key — miss a brake zone or start checking out the amazing vista from the top of the hill and you'll wind up far off track in one of the numerous, wide gravel traps. Mugello will definitely take time to master."

* Rhett "Career Overlord" Mathis on Suzuka: "Suzuka is my favorite new track. It has a lot of personality, plenty of variety, and is great for racing because it features numerous passing opportunities. I like the way it dares you to go deeply into turn 1 before getting on the brakes to control the car for turn 2. The entire east section is a blast in any car — the esses being fairly easy to drive, but tricky to really perfect. In some way, Suzuka feels to me like it has two personalities due to the high-speed nature of the west section. You can reach some crazy speeds on the back stretch, and there's a real test of the kinds of stones you have coming through the 130R before crushing the brakes to safely navigate the triangle."

* Dan "Forza Visionary" Greenawalt on Sebring: "I'm really excited about Sebring International Raceway. I've been following the world famous 12 Hours of Sebring event for years. Its one of the most physically punishing courses in the world — the attrition list at the end of the annual endurance race is pure madness. Sebring features several grades of sun baked asphalt as well as lots of ill-fitting concrete slabs loosely sealed together. It's built on an old airstrip and nothing really matches up, so cars are always skipping and jumping all over the place. All those different seams and surface types really let us show off our physics engine, which is something I'm really excited about. The final corner, a long sweeper over several concrete slabs, is pure evil. Though Sebring doesn't have a lot of elevation change, its one of the roughest, craziest, nastiest tracks out there. Its truly one of the premier sportscar race courses in the United States."

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