Volume 67 -- Oct. 19, 2007

A Turn 10 Introduction...

By: Che Chou, Community Manager

Welcome to Camp Zoom-Zoom, Forza 2 fans. I'm writing this week's Turn 10 Pitpass Report from the press digs at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca in sunny Monterey, CA. It's qualifying day here at the finale weekend of the 2007 American Le Mans Series season, and if today has been anything to go by, we're in for some crazy drama tomorrow as our sponsored team Risi Competizione try to repeat a GT2 season victory with their absolutely dominant Ferrari F430GT. Before I get to a brief show-and-tell of how the events of the day went down, I want to talk a little about upcoming stuff next week.

Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca, home of the Zoom-Zoom. BTW, the Skip Barber Driving School uses new MX-5s as one of their training cars -- drool.

 
As many of you may know, I mentioned that we're going to unleash our first DLC track on Xbox Live Marketplace next week. The unrevealed track is still currently going through Microsoft's rigorous certification process, and so far -- fingers crossed -- we haven't had any signs from the cert team that they've run into any problems. Provided there are no fires to put out next week, the DLC will go live next Friday (10/26). We're also going to reveal/show the track on a certain website (not FM.net) next Tuesday, complete with Dan G. interview, a special video that Landin's been working his butt off on for a week, and screenshots. Just don't expect the reveal to happen with the traditional gaming press...

Risi's lead technician Peter kaczmar looks like he's ready to punch somebody in the throat. In the background, the pit crew checks the #62 over for damage to its suspension arm after a collision with a prototype in the morning practice session.

 
Okay, so onto life here at Camp Zoom-Zoom. We came down to the track with a deluxe 52-inch triple-screen system to celebrate a great Risi race season, as well as to use this as an opportunity to get team drivers Mika Salo and Jaime Melo on the cockpit to practice Laguna Seca before they set out to do it for reals in qualifying. The morning practice session began with a little on-track drama as the Risi Comp. F430GT, driven by Melo, was punted from a collision with the Intersport Racing Lola prototype. Tensions ran high as the crew rolled the car back into the paddock and assessed the vehicle for damage.

Risi's composite tech meistro Johnny Langdon goes to work on repairing the F430GT's front carbon-fiber fender.

 
After a 15 minute examination where they stripped the F430GT of its hood, fenders, and wheels, lead engineer Rick Meyer and lead tech Peter Kaczmar determined that the damage suffered was mostly cosmetic. Luckily, no damage had been done to the car's suspension or chassis. An impatient Mika Salo got suited up and into the car with only 5 minutes left to go during the practice session. I asked him later if he managed to get a lap in there and he said "Yeah, only one lap. But that's enough."

Lead engineer Rick Meyer (left) discusses with Jaime Melo (right) what went right and wrong during the morning practice session.

 
After practice, it was time for the dynamic duo Salo and Melo to get on the wheel and play some Forza 2. The last time they played the game, it was back in March at Sebring and, development-wise, we weren't finished (but fairly close gameplay wise). This time around, feedback from both the drivers were positive as they have noticed a difference in how the #62 F430GT feels in the game. It took Salo a couple laps before he adjusted to the wheel and pedals, and a few laps later, he walked away from the cockpit with a lap of 1:24.637. Then it was Melo's turn, and being ever-so-competitive, he remained seated in the VRX cockpit until he put down a lap of 1:23.984. Although Salo felt dethroned, he was pretty happy since Melo was to be the qualifying candidate for the team later in the afternoon.

Mika Salo (left) and Jaime Melo (right) look on as the crew frantically repairs the car to try to salvage what time is left of the first practice session.

 
And what an awesome qualifying session it was! Jaime Melo, who pulled off a 1:23.984 on Forza 2 after five or six laps, gave the competition a real run for their money. He worked from a 1:28 down to a 1:25, then 1:23 (hey, what do you know!)... then he started going bonkers. Not satisfied with the GT2 pole position, Melo proceeded to shatter the GT2 world record on Laguna Seca by posting his fastest lap time of 1:22.880. The Laguna Seca press room was buzzing with excitement. Anyway, after the GT classes qualified, the prototypes were up to run and the Porsche Spyders decimated their Audi rivals by taking the one-two spot.

 
In the meantime, back in murky wet Seattle, Landin's been slaving away on his portion of this week's Pitpass Report... so take it away Landin!

Mika Salo gets comfortable with the triple-screen and Laguna Seca in Forza 2.

The Forza Motorsport 2 Community Update

By: Landin Williams, Community Moderator

Hello everyone and welcome back to another FM.net Community Update. It has been a very busy week at Turn 10 as we have been preparing to launch our first DLC Track Pack, something the community has been requesting and speculating about since the dawn of time. Well the wait is finally over, as next Friday you should be enjoying the new tracks along with a bundle of exciting and informative content that we are planning to release in tandem with the DLC.  One project that will be released is our first ever “Turn 10 Track Guide” (part of the Forza Motorsport 2 Handbook Series) that will explain and demonstrate how to tackle each turn on the 4 different track configurations. Along with these guides I have also been working on a video project as Che has already mentioned, so make sure to stay sharp on Tuesday as this content goes live!

Jaime Melo unseats Salo's fastest lap by over a second as race goers look on.

We have also been working on a new feature this week that will allow us to broadcast custom user created tournaments over Forza TV, something I am very excited about. Essentially we will be able to select specific races that will remain in the Forza TV section for as long as we specify. The possibilities for broadcasting and promoting events are endless, and we intend to investigate the many ways that this feature can be beneficial to the community. If you have any ideas or suggestions feel free to let us know at forzafb@microsoft.com.

Peter Kaczmar awaits by the car before afternoon qualifying.

Nissan Sentra Tournament Update

Along with the anticipation of the upcoming DLC, the Nissan tournament has been producing a huge amount of excitement as we move into Round 5 this weekend. With only 16 players left in the tournament the competition is getting tougher and tougher as players fight for a spot in the grand final round. With so much on the line Round 5 is sure to be one of the most exciting yet. The race starts on Saturday October 20th at 7:00PM PT, so check out Forza TV for live feeds of all the action. Congratulations to everyone who has made it this far in the tournament, and good luck in Round 5!

The Flying Lizard Motorsports Porsche 911 GT3 RSR. What a sexy beast.

I also wanted to mention two racers who have demonstrated a huge amount of respect and sportsmanlike conduct during the proceedings of the Nissan Tournament. Bakerboy13 and Andre15 have both willingly given up their shot at the Nissan tournament for the greater good of the community, and it is for this reason that I want to congratulate them both for this incredible display of sportsmanship. Bakerboy13 and Andre15 have earned the respect from everyone here at Turn 10 and we wish you both all the best in any future events. Thank you for your continued support, and once again congratulations.

The Penske Racing Porsche RS Spyder. Blew the Audi R10 out of the water in qualifying and hopes to win in P2 class tomorrow.

Hotlap Challenge Week 6 Results

Wow another week of the Hotlap Challenge has been completed and yet again we have had lead changes happen within the last few hours of competition. Over the past few weeks an interesting trend has developed, where the top contenders will hold off on setting their best lap until the very end. This sort of technique is an effective stealth strategy that doesn’t allow your opponent enough time to counter-attack (a tactic pioneered by TRC Smokinu in the Week 5 Challenge). I expect to see this sort of strategy used by many racers in future Challenges and hope they continue to do so as it makes for a very exciting finish!

2005 BMW M3 E46 Coupe by: JohnnyQuesttt

A last minute attack by Kjmj Raikkonen was enough to snatch the lead from IPR BackONE AbS, a racer who is very familiar with the top 10. Just as an example of how competitive this challenge has become; Kjmj Raikkonen finished with a time of 1:19.947, just 0.091 seconds faster that BackONE AbS! I also heard through the grapevine that Raikkonen did over 50 consecutive laps in order to achieve his sub 1:20 lap time. Whether or not this is accurate is up for debate; however it is evident that Raikkonen is not only an amazingly fast racer, but is also very dedicated to being on top. So with all of that said I am proud to congratulate Kjmj Raikkonen with yet another victory in this week’s Hotlap Challenge, great driving! Here are the Top 10 Racers this week:

Hotlap Challenge Week 6 Top 10
Kjmj Raikkonen
IPR BackONE AbS
PoTzyPLOP
IPR Revolution
PpR Greeksniper
IPR Ermy
ACC PorscheH6
D2C DaRk RaCeR
SPDN Phantom
EvoRacer20

2003 Dodge Viper SRT 10 by: dakman

Click HERE to see if you have been selected as a “Random 30” winner this week.

I also wanted to quickly mention a Team that has yet to receive any coverage in our Community Updates, but has been deeply involved in the Hotlap Challenge since day 1. Team IPR has had a total of 10 top 10 finishes in the Hotlap challenge (tied with Team TRC) with 3 players finishing in the top 10 this week! After this week’s performance I expect to see a lot more of IPR in the future.

2005 Lotus Exige by: IShb3w

Congratulations to everyone who finished in the top 10 this week and also those who finished in the top 200 and have been selected in the "Random 30".  As always you are eligible for a free gift car of choice! If you don’t know how to submit your request please visit the bottom of the article for request instructions.

Hotlap Challenge Week 7: North American Compact Car Challenge

For this week we have decided to go with another upgrading and tuning challenge that will require users to be creative with part combinations in order to build the ultimate time attack car. This week’s challenge is restricted to front wheel drive cars from North America that can be upgraded to the top of C Class. Have fun with this week’s challenge everyone, and remember, if you want to take a shot at the number one time make sure you hold off until the last minute!

2005 Ford GT by: Pepto

FM.net Weekly Custom Tournaments

A new challenge that we premiered this week was the FM.net custom tournament series.  This tournament is a follow up to the Hotlap Challenge, and is designed for those who also enjoy racing wheel to wheel with the settings that we create every week.  Unfortunately we had some technical issues with the tournament this week and as a result had to cancel the second tier of competition. We apologize to everyone who was involved with the tier of competition, and will be scheduling our tournaments on a weekly template to ensure these problems do not surface again. We have also firmed up the number of players that will be allowed to participate in each week’s custom tournament.

1990 Mazda Savanna RX-7 by: Hadoq

There have also been some reports of players having split lobby issues with this week’s tournament. Unfortunately due to time constraints we were not able to address these issues this week, however if you encounter this problem in future custom tournaments please e-mail us ASAP at forzafb@microsoft.com. We will try our best to reschedule any races that have suffered from a split lobby. This week’s tournament has already been created and qualifications are open so if you would like to test out your racing abilities against some of the other hot lappers make sure to qualify! The first race is being held on Sunday October 21st, so good luck to everyone participating!

Original Livery Winners of The Week
Hall of Fame Thread
FLUEX
redesign
treewick
syythe
YeahYeah55
CTpenok
chitownkillers1
SnakeEyes Friex
Razored 21
Mike Patton CH
Steve SQ

Race/Replica Livery Winners of The Week
Hall of Fame Thread
Wasted Muppet
FatboyShane
BOD Killinator
Jeffenwulf
car
golden boy 85
marcwlt
Antiyou
ILL3S
Jordan 5066

Congratulations to all the winners of the livery competitions this week! If you are interested in receiving a free gift car of choice make sure to e-mail forzafb@microsoft.com and include the following: your gamertag, forum username, the contest you have won, and your car request. Remember the only cars not available are the cars from the "September Car Pack" as well as the Peugeot 908.

That's it for another Community Update, enjoy the weekend and make sure to check out the DLC Track promotions that will begin early next week!

Peace

Landin