Being the diligent hard workers that we are, it’s not uncommon to find us trawling the web for free games to play when we should be meeting deadlines. The latest browser-based addiction in the D+PAD offices comes in the form of the GTI Project, a Flash-based racing game to promote Volkswagen’s new Golf GTI, launching on May 22nd. For the game, 60 modellers have taken numerous pieces of Scalextric track and over 200 miniature buildings, then constructed a track filled with twists, turns, straights and hairpin bends, perfect for testing out the new Golf GTI, recreated here in 1:43 scale.

The game itself is fiendishly addictive, with the incentive to not only beat your personal best time, but to compete on a Global leaderboard and even enter custom leagues. Don’t think it’ll be easy though. Too much enthusiasm will lead to crashes. It takes a sensitive trigger finger and an eye for the corners to be able to nail that perfect lap. For serious automobile fans, the game allows you to review the technical specifications of the GTI before taking to the track. For those of us just looking to while away some time playing games, the impressive-looking FMV game has that one-more-go factor that’ll leave you scratching your head, wondering just how you’ve managed to avoid getting caught shirking for the entire day.

Because the people at Volkswagen know that the only thing more fun than driving a model GTI is driving a real GTI, there’s even a chance to win one. Set a good enough lap time and you’ll be entered into a prize draw to win your own GTI for 3 months. Even if you’re not a lucky winner, you can claim a free brochure or book a test drive.

Simply head on over to The GTI Project website and get racing! And after setting a time, why not seek out the D+PAD league and compete against our personal bests. Just enter DPAD as a search term via the ‘find a league’ option and your best time will be automatically added to our leaderboard.

Get your race on. We’ll see you on the track.

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