If you spent most of your Christmas holiday in Seacrest County, or see yourself as the Lewis Hamilton of Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit, then IGN UK (uk.ign.com) has the ultimate New Year challenge for you.

The leading entertainment and video games network has teamed up with EA and Criterion to find the UK’s fastest Hot Pursuit driver. By signing up for the competition, gamers will be set a series of challenges direct from the in-game Autolog – giving you a chance to prove your skills against the greatest players across the country.

Autolog is the engine of Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit, letting you track your career and game stats, check out all your captured photos, brag about your latest accomplishments, and jump directly into challenges recommended by Autolog’s comparison engine based on your friends’ gameplay.

The first phase of the contest launches in January 2011 when the challenges begin – with loads of great prizes up for grabs, including a home entertainment system. By signing up before the Need for Speed Autolog Challenge begins in 2011, gamers can see whether their racing skills match up to those of the IGN UK team.

How to join the Need for Speed Autolog Challenge
Step 1: Create your own MyIGN profile (my.ign.com/get-started2)
Step 2: Follow the NFS-Autolog profile (people.ign.com/nfs-autolog) on MyIGN
Step 3: Get practising! The IGN UK team are posting their best times, so you can see how you size up. These challenges are just for fun, until the real competition starts in 2011.

More information about the competition will be posted in early January 2011 on the MyIGN NFS Autolog blog – with details of the full range of prizes on offer.