Before this change the IL lap record/times were confined to the Challenge (Time Trial) mode.
However, I've decided this is a bit silly since personal best laps can also be set during the Championship and Race modes of the game.
So, now it's just a fastest lap category, not specifically a time trial category. In essence: runs/laps can be submitted from any time trial or race now.
I've taken the time to consider that this game has no real traction here on SR.C, (as is the case with obscure/underwhelming titles from older console generations), and understand that emulators are still a totally viable way to play a game, and increase its running popularity. Even if it does further the risk of TAS'd or fraudulent runs.
I found that my times drastically improved after ripping the ISO from my personal, physical copy of the PS2 game - and felt that this hurdle should be allowed to be avoided, especially for those who can't obtain a copy of the game, for whatever reason. I would know this struggle with setting times on actual hardware, since all my PS2 runs were performed with a partially broken DualShock.
PCSX2 is the only emulator permitted, simply due to the fact that it seems to be the best emulation of the PS2's hardware that we currently have. But the catch is that there is now a separate sub-category for this.
This is because the emulation speed may be faster, or slower, than that of the real hardware. And since the runs are timed via RTA, this can be a major advantage, or disadvantage, to runners on PCSX2.
I would provide my ISO of the game in the resources, but that would be piracy, because (to my knowledge) the game is still not abandonware and can be purchased on the PS3 marketplace. If it were to become abandonware, I'd have no issue in allowing for it to be downloaded and used in PCSX2.