Well now, I have some good news and some bad news for you.
Good news first! Codemasters have confirmed that the PC version of their upcoming off-road racer Colin McRae: DiRT 2 will indeed support DirectX 11, and all the bells and whistles that come along with it.

The bad news? They're pretty time consuming bells and whistles - and DirectX 11 isn't coming out until Windows 7 in October, so you'll have to wait an extra couple of months for the game. While the console will be tearin' up the track from September onward, PC gamers will now twiddle their thumbs until the revised release date of December 2009.

Bryan Marshall, chief technical officer, Codemasters explains:

“While the console editions of Colin McRae: DiRT 2 will retain their September ship date, we believe that the DirectX 11 feature set is too compelling to ignore, especially considering how much more it can add to the visual experience for PC gamers. As a leader in digital racing entertainment, we are staying ahead of the pack by immediately taking advantage of key new technologies such as hardware tessellation, multi-threading and Shader Model 5.0 to deliver the most realistic, immersive and exhilarating racing experiences in the business. The fusion of DirectX 11 with Codemasters’ EGO™ Engine will raise the technical bar considerably in the racing genre.”

So - if you're planning on sticking with Vista, DirectX 11 will be available as a downloadable update, although it does come shipped with Windows 7 too. We're sure Codemasters will not be the only developers taking advantage of the performance boost - and of course, the new behaviour of Shader Model 5.0, which brings an even richer 3D experience to DiRT 2.

Rick Bergman, senior vice president, AMD Products Group enthuses:

“We expect Codemasters’ early move to DirectX 11 to place them in a leadership position in developing the next generation of PC games and simulations. To aid in transitioning to DirectX 11, AMD is providing Codemasters with access to our software engineering expertise in DirectX 11 technologies such as tessellation and shader modelling. DirectX 11 has all of the ingredients needed to take PC gaming to a new level of realism by giving developers tools to effectively utilize the multi-CPU, multi-GPU systems now available to players.”

Sorry sports fans, you've got a little while later to wait on this one - but is it worth it?

If you want a racing fix a bit earlier, there's also versions of Colin McRae: DiRT 2 on the way for PS3, Xbox 360, Wii, DS and PSP - all due in September. It's your call, really - but some of those PC improvements sound pretty darn nifty.