Team Need for Speed’s #76 BMW Z4 Coupé won the Dubai 24h a full three laps ahead of the next contenders: the #4 AF Corsa Ferrari F430 and the #7 Black Falcon Mercedes Benz AMG SLS. The team’s sister car #77 finished in 5th place.

Following the first video teaser released earlier today, EA & Slightly Mad Studios have released more previews & info on Need for Speed Shift 2.

The second installment of the Shift franchise comes with an official FIA GT license including the FIA GT1 & GT3 series cars, both series will be part of the title’s career mode.

The title comes with several new features including night racing and the all-new helmet camera.

EA has released the first video teaser of Need for Speed Shift 2 Unleashed, giving us first ideas what Slightly Mad Studios’ second Need for Speed title will bring in 2011.

The video teaser does not contain any actual gameplay footage but reveals some cars as the trailer features FIA GT2 & GT3 race cars such as the Porsche 911 GT3-RSR, the Audi R8 LMS and the BMW Z4 GT3 which is driven by Need for Speed producer Patrick Soderlund in real life. Unlike the first Shift, the racing cars are dressed up in proper real-life liveries including FIA GT number plates & logos, indicating that the title has an official series license.

Now, a very interesting interview with EA’s Patrick Soderlund on the future of the Need for Speed Shift franchise has been released by Eurogamer. Soderlund explains that while other NFS titles will be taking care of the arcade oriented market, Shift will continue to cater to the simulation-oriented players as EA positions the franchise as cross-platform alternative to console driving titles such as Forza Motorsport & Gran Turismo:

“The idea for us is to come out with a holiday product, around Christmas time every year, that is true to the core tenets of an action NFS game, which is usually what most of our consumers are after.

VirtualR has learned that the sequel is again being developed by Sligthly Mad Studios whose roots go back to the GTR simulation series for the PC. Released in September 2009, Need for Speed Shift aimed to bring the franchise back to a more simulation-oriented audience, selling almost five million copies for the PC and gaming consoles.

A month ago, a first rumor regarding a successor to Slightly Mad Studio’s highly-popular Need for Speed Shift title surfaced after a former SMS employee mentioned Need for Speed Shift 2 in his LinkedIn profile.

Back then, the rumor had been denied as being caused by a mere typo and even now, Slightly Mad Studio’s won’t officially confirm their involvement.

When asked for confirmation, Slightly Mad Studio’s Ian Bell seemed surprised the game had been mentioned. While stating that he can’t discuss details of projects that haven’t been released by a publisher, Ian said there will be a project released by them soon that will raise the bar for racers in many areas.

Stay tuned for much more on Need for Speed Shift 2!

And even though the 2010 E3 Expo passed by without any news on a new Need for Speed from the British developer, a hot rumor started circulating the net yesterday, getting people excited about Need for Speed Shift 2.

It all started with Chris Mcclure’s LinkedIn profile in which Mcclure, former senior programmer at Slightly Mad Studios, claimed to have worked on Need for Speed Shift 2 among other titles.

This November, Need for Speed Hot Pursuit will transform online entertainment by bringing to life the adrenaline and intensity of high speed cop pursuits and changing the way that people connect and compete with their friends.