Pretty much my thoughts as well that I have been explaining to people since B3's release, having played B1 and B2 to death.
i second that, in fact i've just swaped my PS2 copy of BurOut 1 for it on the X-Box version just to do it all again but with better graphics.
the trick with most of the races is not to boost when in first place, as if you do the other cars just happen to 'catch-up'....
still not finished the game; i don't think i'll get more over my 97% for a while realy