Introducing - Circuit De La Sarthe
An inside look at this world famous circuit in Forza Motorsport 3!
Landin Williams, 6.12.2009
As you make your way around the magnificent grandstands surrounding the Dunlop bridge you can't help but anticipate what lies ahead. You calmly challenge the few remaining corners that separate you from one of the longest most grueling stretches of track in the world...the famous Mulsanne Straight. By the time you realize it's near you're foot is firmly planted, sandwiching the accelerator pedal between your shoe and the stripped interior of your LMP race car -- well on its way to top speed.
Check out more LMP hotness over at our official Le Mans photo gallery here!
This moment of anticipation is a reality for many seasoned drivers competing in the 24 Hours of Le Mans, and now you can share the excitement. I'm extremely proud to announce that the home of this incredible straight...Circuit De La Sarthe is now at your fingertips in Forza Motorsport 3!
Hello and welcome to the first post-E3 Forza Motorsport 3 content reveal! I'm Landin Williams, Community Lead here at Turn 10, and along with Community Manager Che Chou I'll be trickling out details of the game over the next few months as we march towards October. As you can see we're kicking things off big, with a track and car reveal that will have racing fans jumping for joy. For more on the Cars of Le Mans, visit the
LMP showcase gallery here.
Circuit De La Sarthe
Location: Le Mans, France
Length: 8.489 Miles (Sarthe)
Track Configurations: 3
Number of Turns: 21(Sarthe)
Bugatti and Sarthe Configurations Included
Meticulously recreated down to every last detail by our talented track team, you can now look forward to speeding down the 3.7 mile straight in your favorite race car. "Le Sarthe" as it is known by many is as raw as they come, a punishing track for the car and driver who must sit comfortably on the edge of control at all times. You've probably seen footage of cars screaming down the Mulsanne straightaway, charging towards two chicanes that will take a serious toll on your car as you approach at full speed. We've included it all in Forza 3...the classic Sarthe configurations and the shorter Buggati circuit. All in all the Circuit De La Sarthe is truly a unique racing environment, which is why it's the only place to host the most legendary racing event of all time...the 24 Hour of Le Mans.
An incredible endurance race that tests drivers, cars and their crew, the 24 Hour of Le Mans is a historically distinguished event held annually at the Circuit De La Sarthe. The concept of a continuous 24 hour race introduces many challenges for racing teams who must take long-term reliability into the equation when building their machines. Automotive factory teams push their latest technology to the limit in order to be crowned the champion of this illustrious racing event, and the Circuit De La Sarthe is where it all goes down. Our announcement of this track coincides with the 24 Hour of Le Mans event that is currently underway in France, so make sure to check out footage from the race to get a feel for this amazing track. A track with so much racing history...and we couldn't think of a better way to celebrate its uniqueness than to include it in Forza Motorsport 3.
Opened in 1923, Circuit De La Sarthe utilizes local roads that remain open to the public in the off-season. You can tell by how worn out some of these sections have become over the years, making them that much more exciting to drive as you fight to keep your car under control while it skips along the warped tarmac of the Mulsanne straight. With Forza Motorsport 3's realistic driving physics you can bet you'll feel every bump in the road, because at Turn 10 we don't cut corners on authenticity.
You see...tracks get major love over here and rightfully so. Each one is meaningful and special in its own way, and without accurate track models and detailed artwork, that magic and uniqueness is lost. It's all in the details. That (and our unyielding love for motorsports) is why we've sent our track team to Le Mans France to gather real-time data of the actual Circuit De La Sarthe. Over the course of two weeks we collected insane amounts of reference material that was brought home, broken down, and used to accurately re-create every last detail of this incredible course.
The Turn 10 track crew walks the course...gathering valuable data for reference along the way.
In fact when asked for a few images of his reference trip to the Circuit De La Sarthe in France, Turn 10 track lead Matt Collins sent over a shared folder containing over 15,000 images ...nearly 60GB of source material! Looking through these images/videos I found reference on just about everything (and I mean everything). Track barriers, road materials, rumble strips, vegetation and trackside buildings are just a few of the things that we're documented during their visit to France. Combined with endless amounts of physical data collected via GPS, aerial photography and a team of car experts to ensure accuracy, we had everything needed to create a scale replica of the world famous Circuit De La Sarthe in Forza Motorsport 3. It's honestly way too much content (and hard work) to cover in the scope of this article, but the passion and pride we take in track modeling will shine through as you take your very first lap around the Circuit De La Sarthe in Forza 3 this October.
To celebrate the announcement of this world famous track we've released another batch of sexy screenshots, so check them out here! This weekend also marks the beginning of our very own 24 hour racing event, the
Audi AXF-24 Hour Challenge. Nine of the fastest Forza racers will compete in a 24 hour Forza 3 endurance race for over 20 grand in prizing! It's going down this weekend at the Audi Forum in New York City, and I'll personally be there to report on all the action and excitement. Check out the
Turn 10 studios blog and our
official Twitter page for the most up to date info from NYC.
Left: Matt Collins takes reference of the famous Mulsanne straight.
We'll also have coverage of the real 24 Hour of Le Mans race event, as Che Chou and Dan Greenawalt hopped on a plane earlier this week destined for Le Mans, France! Check back soon for their impressions! I hope you've enjoyed this inagural content release, and remember to check back often for the latest news on Forza Motorsport 3.
Peace
Landin