The Tracks

Unlike FM5 with the release of FM6 we are getting the full track treatment - and how cool is that? The following tracks are in the game, at launch, including weather variants:

Autodromo Nazionale Monza

Located north of Milan, near the city of Monza, its biggest event is the Formula One Grand Prix each year - which actually says a lot. One of its more infamous claims is that of the Death Track for Formula One racing - having seen the deaths of 52 drivers and 35 spectators - ouch!

- Autodromo Nazionale Monza Full Circuit (3.60 miles) Day

- Autodromo Nazionale Monza Short Circuit (1.51 miles) Day

- Autodromo Nazionale Monza Full Circuit Alt (3.59 miles) Day

Bernese Alps

Set in a resort ski community, the circuits run through streets, a valley, and the mountains of its modern ski resort host. The dam that holds the lake back is part of the circuits, and much of the race can be viewed from comfie seats at its cafes and coffee bars.

- Bernese Alps Festival Circuit (3.63 miles) Day

- Bernese Alps Stadtplatz Circuit (3.08 miles) Day

- Bernese Alps Club Circuit (2.52 miles) Day

- Bernese Alps Festival Circuit Reverse (3.63 miles) Day

- Bernese Alps Stadplatz Reverse (3.08 miles) Day

- Bernese Alps Club Circuit Reverse (2.52 miles) Day

You can unlock Unrivaled by repeating the same Rival Event over and over in progressively less time

Brands Hatch

Located in Kent, England, this circuit began life as a dirt motorcycle track, then it grew up! Considered by many pro-racers to be one of the best circuits in the world of racing, its two core tracks number among the more challenging modern race circuits in the sport. During World War II it was used as a military vehicle park, and was frequently bombed by the German Air Force.

- Brands Hatch Grand Prix Circuit (2.43 miles) Day / Rain

- Brands Hatch Indy Circuit (1.21 miles) Day / Rain

Circuit de Catalunya

Built in 1991 and host of the Spanish Grand Prix that same year, this world famous circuit enjoys a partnership deal with its host city - Barcelona. Its use in the sport has been so frequent that recently it has been criticized for being too well known to the drivers and mechanics, with observers claiming that the pro racers have memorized its lay to the point that the circuit itself lacks any real challenge.

- Circuit de Catalunya Grand Prix Circuit (2.89 miles) Day

- Circuit de Catalunya National Circuit (1.85 miles) Day

- Circuit de Catalunya School Circuit (1.06 miles) Day

Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps

The venue for the Belgian Formula One Grand Prix, it also happens to be home to the All-Volkswagen Club Event. Widely considered to be among the most challenging race courses in the world, the circuit is completely within the borders of the municipality of Stavelot and not Spa, and the course was originally designed in 1920 to use mostly public roads. The first official race in 1921 had to be canceled after only one driver entered.

- Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps Full Circuit (4.35 miles) Day / Night / Rain

Circuit of The Americas

Located in Elroy, Texas, this track plays host to the US Formula One Grand Prix as well as the Motorcycle Grand Prix of the Americas. The circuit was one of only a handful in 2012 to be run counter-clockwise, and as a result it contains more left-hand turns than right-hand ones - which makes it tougher on the drivers.

- Circuit of The Americas Grand Prix Circuit (3.42 miles) Day

- Circuit of The Americas West Route (2.30 miles) Day

- Circuit of The Americas East Route (1.23 miles) Day

Daytona International Speedway

Opened in 1959 and home to the Daytona 500, DIS is one of the oldest continuous pro racing circuits and one of the most famous. In addition to playing host to numerous classes of auto racing, the 29-acre lake that fills its infield hosts powerboat racing.

- Daytona International Speedway Sports Car Circuit (3.59 miles) Day / Night

- Daytona International Speedway Short Circuit (2.94 miles) Day / Night

- Daytona International Speedway Tri-Oval Circuit (2.50 miles) Day /Night

Hockenheimring

Named for the sound that a Dachshund makes when it bites a Dutchman... Kidding - just kidding! Located in the Rhine Valley, the track was originally built in 1932 using forest roads after the wild park circuit was closed by German officials. Originally used for motorcycle racing, it was expanded to auto racing in 1936 and, after World War II it became an official track in the pro racing circuit.

- Hockenheimring Full Circuit (2.84 miles) Day

- Hockenheimring National Circuit (2.29 miles) Day

- Hockenheimring Short Circuit (1.64 miles) Day

Indianapolis Motor Speedway

The current IMS is the original and it was constructed in 1909, in addition to serving as perhaps the best known purpose-built auto-racing track in the world, IMS was also the venu for the opening ceremonies of the 1987 Pan-American Games.

The vision for IMS was native car aficionado Carl G. Fisher who, while helping some friends prepare to race a course in France, observed that while the European racing circuits were far safer and better designed than those in America (which were mostly public roads).

The combination of safety concerns and the notion that spectators who paid to watch the races were not getting their money's worth, FIsher believed that Indiana, which at the time was the cente of carriage works for the auto industry in North America, was the obvious choice for placement of a European-style Racing Course.

- Indianapolis Motor Speedway Grand Prix Circuit (2.44 miles) Day

- Indianapolis Motor Speedway The Brickyard Speedway (2.50 miles) Day

- Indianapolis Motor Speedway Grand Prix Circuit - Classic (2.60 miles) Day

- Indianapolis Motor Speedway Grand Prix Circuit Alt (2.59 miles) Day

Le Mans Circuit de la Sarthe

Renown as the home of 24-hours at Le Mans, Circuit de la Sarthe is a specialized race course that is temporarily created through the use of private track and public roads that are closed down during races. Built for Team Pugeot as the perfect venue to demonstrate the capabilities of their engineering creations.

The world-famous 24 Hours at Le Mans is generally said to be an unstoppable force in auto-racing, and in fact the races were interrupted only twice in their long history. The first time was in 1936, when the effects of the crushing worldwide economic depression caused it to be canceled.

The second event was Germany's occupation of France in World War II, with the races shut down until 1948, at which time the organizers introduced the racing public to an entirely new and purpose-built facility that included five new covered grandstands, new pit buildings, and a variety of new mechanical services shops and repair barns as well as fabrication works.

- Le Mans Circuit de la Sarthe Full Circuit (8.48 miles) Day / Night / Rain

- Le Mans Circuit de la Sarthe Bugetti Circuit (2.60 miles) Day / Night / Rain

- Le Mans Circuit de la Sarthe Old Mulsanne Circuit (8.44 miles) Day / Night / Rain

Lime Rock

Owned by retired racer and driving school owner Skip Barber, Lime Rock Connecticut's answer to Florida's Daytona circuit, offering racers a course that, when it was conceived in 1956, featured state-of-the-art safety features that helped to establish many of the safety rules still in use in the sport.

Racing at Lime Rock was originally (and seriously) threatened almost from the start, when the local Episcopal Church took the track and its owner to court in 1959 in an attempt to ban racing on Sunday afternoons! That may sound like a bad thing, but as it turns out the carefully crafted legal injunction was actually created by the court to protect the Lime Rock track and its racing activities.

That protection took the form of wording that preserved the rights of the track to race on Friday's and Saturday's and operate auto testing on Tuesday's, effectively preventing any future attempts by the church to shut the track down entirely. And they say red tape is evil!

- Lime Rock Full Circuit (1.50 miles) Day

- Lime Rock West Chicane (1.50 miles) Day

- Lime Rock South Chicane (1.47 miles) Day

- Lime Rock Full Circuit Alt (1.50 miles) Day

Long Beach

Widely viewed as one of the most successful "temporary street circiot" designs in North American racing, Long Beach sports the longest running major street race held on the North American continent. The races began in 1975 as Formula 5000, and became Formula 1 in 1976.

Long Beach has been held out as an example of how municipalities can do racing right, and served as a measuring stick and guide for modern street racing across the continent, influencing the sport in Detroit, Toronto, Chicago, and New York City, to name a few major metropolitan cities that it helped bring into the racing fold.

- Long Beach Full Circuit (1.97 miles) Day

- Long Beach East Route (1.34 miles) Day

- Long Beach West Route (0.45 miles) Day

Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca

Due to safety issues for this circuit whose origins are found in the nearby forests through which the races originally ran, the races were threatened with banning and closure.

To counter the genuine safety concerns of the local municipality, a partnership between the US Department of Defense facilities at nearby Fort Ord, and a locally-based non-profit sports racing organization called SCRAMP - Sports Car Racing Association of the Monterey Peninsula -- ended up being the answer to counter those threats.

Laguna Seca exists today as proof that you actually CAN work with the military and not get shot for your efforts! And how cool is that?!

- Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca Full Circuit (2.24 miles) Day

Mount Panorama Motor Racing Circuit (Bathurst)

When God made Australia we have a pretty good idea of what he was thinking at the time. Put all the green stuff and people around the edges, and put lots of sand in the middle to give the humans plenty of space for pro stock and rally racing! Seriously! Yeah!

Mount Panorama is actually probably not what you would first think of as a pro stock, mixed-use race venue, especially considering that much of the track is actually public road surfaces that are temporarily shut down on race days.

It is also one of the more bloody tracks in the Australasia Region - sporting 16 deaths on or around the track since its official opening on 17 March 1938.

- Mount Panorama Circuit - Bathurst Circuit (3.86 miles) Day

Nürburgring

Filed under the heading of "Did Not See That Coming!" it turns out that Nruburgring is THE most deadly track in the Euro venues. Put it this way - the death toll for Nruburgring is so steep that not even Jeremy Clarkson could convince the officials there to release even an estimate of the total deaths, let alone a number to represent the average annual fatalities!

Seriously, while we know that the local government KEEPS track of those statistics, they do NOT share them with the news media - or anyone else it seems. Considering that the infamous BBC Auto Series "Top Gear" used the tracks at Nurburgring as one of its designated and official "Test Tracks" you would think that retired host Jeremy Clarkson would have a vested interest in learning that number, but the best he could manage was a guesstimate!

- Nürburgring Full Circuit (16.15 miles) Day / Night / Rain

- Nürburgring Nordschleife (12.93 miles) Day / Night / Rain

- Nürburgring GP Circuit (3.20 miles) Day / Night / Rain

Prague

With its old world charm, classic architecture, and world-class dining, it can be hard to believe that the city fathers willing shut down pretty much the entire city several times a year to host pro auto racing, but they do! Now you might be thinking - who would do that? Well, a lot of cities do it - and yeah, Detroit does not count because nobody is using its streets anyway, but still...

Prague is a wicked fun course - but what would you say if we told you that the city fathers are contemplating building a dedicated and challenging F1 circuit there? Well they are! No word as to whether or not they will hold go-cart races on that circuit like they do in town, but still!

- Prague Full Circuit (3.51 miles) Day

- Prague Short Circuit (1.82 miles) Day

- Prague Full Circuit Reverse (3.51 miles) Day

- Prague Short Circuit Reverse (1.82 miles) Day

Rio de Janeiro

Wold it surprise you to learn that racing in Rio is more about image than challenge? It's true! The new courses that you will be racing on almost did not happen due to the encroachment of slums along one side of the track. Seriously - the racing organizers did not want to have televised races that in addition to showing off the spectacular scenery also illustrated just how poor the poor of Rio are!

If you find that hard to believe, consider this: the F1 Commission pulled out of Rio in favor of Sao Palo in the 80s because the nearby slums were too close to avoid being seen on camera, a decision which outright killed the famous Jacarepaguá circuit. But hey, Rio is snapping back! They tore down those pesky slums and even built some new racing facilities! Gotta love Brazil, right?

- Rio de Janeiro Full Circuit (3.83 miles) Day

- Rio de Janeiro National Circuit (2.84 miles) Day

- Rio de Janeiro Coast Loop (1.32 miles) Day

- Rio de Janeiro Mountain Circuit (1.01 miles) Day

- Rio de Janeiro Mini Circuit (0.68 miles) Day

- Rio de Janeiro Full Circuit Reverse (3.83 miles) Day

- Rio de Janeiro National Circuit Reverse (2.84 miles) Day

- Rio de Janeiro Coast Loop Reverse (1.32 miles) Day

- Rio de Janeiro Mountain Circuit Reverse (1.01 miles) Day

- Rio de Janeiro Mini Circuit Reverse (0.68 miles) Day

Road America

Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin has a LOT going for it! It's got hunting, fishing, a nearby nudist camp, and hey, racing at Road America! Seriously - not joking about the nudists or the racing...

The thing is the very carefully planned and built track at RA was not simply created to offer a challenging racing venue, it was designed to be the premiere test tack for new racecar designs, offering a lot of everything to the extent that today it hosts practically the full spectrum of racing - including the ASRA, AMA Superbike series, NASCAR Xfinity Series, Tudor United SportsCar Championship, SCCA Speed World Challenge Series, and IndyCar Series. That is very impressive!

If this course seems familiar to you there is a reason for that. In addition to appearing in the Forza series it has also been prominent in iRacing, Need for Speed: Shift, Shift 2: Unleashed, Stock Car Evolution 2013, ToCA Pro Race Driver 2, and Project CARS.

- Road America Full Circuit (4.05 miles) Day

- Road America East Route (2.19 miles) Day

- Road America West Route (2.17 miles) Day

- Road America Full Circuit Alt (4.12 miles) Day

- Road America West Route Alt (2.20 miles) Day

Road Atlanta

With its colorful history and a story of incremental improvements to bring it in line with the national standards for the various racing organizations bringing it to the front of the modern racing circuit path on the East Coast, it should not be much of a surprise that RA was one of the tracks that NASCAR had its eye on.

A challenging course with lots of technical to it, RA has played host to just about every type of racing there is, but when we boil down the attraction there is one event that really stands out: Petit Le Mans.

- Road Atlanta Full Circuit (2.54 miles) Day

- Road Atlanta Club Circuit (1.77 miles) Day

Sebring International Raceway

Sebring is one of the tracks with a deeper history to it than the newer and purpose-built courses in its class. Sharing a portion of the Sebring Regional Airport, which is still an active airport for private and commercial use, a big chunk of the circuit was originally built as Hendricks Army Airfield during World War II as a training base for the U.S. Army Air Force.

Racing started there in the 50s, in events that were inspired by the 24-hours of Le Mans, with the first 12 Hours of Sebring event being held on March 15, 1952. That event would grow to become a major international race, and the rest is history.

- Sebring International Raceway Full Circuit (3.70 miles) Day / Night / Rain

- Sebring International Raceway Short Circuit (2.13 miles) Day / Night / Rain

- Sebring International Raceway Club Circuit (1.70 miles) Day / Night / Rain

Silverstone Racing Circuit

There is a reason that Silverstone is often called the Home of British Motorsports. It is easy to forget that World War II was a major struggle for the UK in particular, and by the time it was over nearly the entire racing infrastructure in the country had been dismantled when the country shifted to a war-footing.

It was Silverstone - a retired air base near the center of the country close to the village of Silverstone that the Royal Automobile Club felt offered the best case for re-establishing a professional dedicated race circuit and bring International Racing back to Britain.

On the 2nd October 1948, 100,000 fans turned up for the first race - the first RAC International Grand Prix - went off on a track that even if we are being kind was little more than a cobbled-together mixture of a race course that carved its way through working farms and a mothballed air strip! But it worked, and to new generations of racers arriving at Silverstone means arriving in the heart of British Racing.

- Silverstone Racing Circuit Grand Prix Circuit (3.19 miles) Day / Rain

- Silverstone Racing Circuit International Circuit (2.25 miles) Day / Rain

- Silverstone Racing Circuit National Circuit (1.64 miles) Day / Rain

Sonoma Raceway

When you say "Sonoma" the first image that comes to mind is vineyards, wine tasting barns, and fusion dining, right? Well, no! What cones to mind for us is the Sonoma Raceway - a modern and challenging track that was formerly known as Sears Point Raceway (later briefly as Infineon Raceway), largely as it is located on the landform known as Sears Point in the southern Sonoma Mountains.

Host to one of only two NASCAR Sprint Cup Series races each year, despite its demonstrated success, the course still actively supports and plays host to club and amateur racing, offering California's enthusiastic modders a place to go to develop their skills - and how cool is that?

- Sonoma Raceway Full Circuit (2.52 miles) Day

- Sonoma Raceway Grand Prix Circuit (2.22 miles) Day

- Sonoma Raceway Short Circuit (1.99 miles) Day

Test Track Airfield

Presented as an "abandoned airfield near Mojave, California" this Test Track is really the only truly fabricated and made-up track in the game. A fiction that was created not to buff the track count, rather it was added in order to provide a history-free and baggage-free destination for multi-player Drag Racing. Why is that important?

It is important for the simple reason that unlike pretty much every other venue in the game, the Test Track is all about the cars and not about what happened in the past!

- Test Track Airfield Full Circuit (1.74 miles) Day

Top Gear

The reason that this track is so famous is also the reason that it remains one of the least raced tracks in the world. Used by the BBC TV series Top Gear, the track is located at Dunsfold Aerodrome in Surrey, UK.

Designed by Lotus Cars as a testing facility for its Formula One cars, its layout is designed to put a car through various stressful conditions, ranging from provoking understeer to testing brake balance and tires.

That sad, the track is used by Top Gear to test both cars and drivers seen on the show, mostly in Power Laps and Star in a Reasonably Priced Car, and that is how it got so famous.

- Top Gear Full Circuit (1.75 miles) Day / Rain

- Top Gear East Circuit (0.94 miles) Day / Rain

- Top Gear West Circuit (0.80 miles) Day / Rain

- Top Gear Outer Loop (1.42 miles) Day / Rain

- Top Gear East Circuit Reverse (0.94 miles) Day / Rain

- Top Gear West Circuit Reverse (0.80 miles) Day / Rain

- Top Gear Outer Loop Reverse (1.42 miles) Day / Rain

Watkins Glen

Oddly enough on more than one occasion when the subject of racing simulation play was the topic of convo more than just a few racers have referred to The Glen as "that odd track in Indiana" when, actually, The Glen is in New York State! But we understand how that confusion happens, because Watkins Glen features a level of technical challenge nad an overall look and feel that is very similar to that experience d at Road America, which IS an odd little track in Indiana!

So there you have it - mystery solved!

- Watkins Glen Full Circuit (3.37 miles) Day

- Watkins Glen Short Circuit (2.49 miles) Day

- Watkins Glen Full Circuit Alt (3.36 miles) Day

- Watkins Glen Short Circuit Alt (2.48 miles) Day

Yas Marina Circuit

Oddly enough Yas Marina Circuit is the track that most often appears on racer Hate Lists. Why that is takes a bit of digging - but it seems that the primary reason is down to the fact that the layout and design of the corners on this specific circuit promotes cheating. There, we said it - and it needed to be said!

The motivation to cheat on this specific track has more to do with just how unforgiving it is than it does the percentage of cheating cheater-mc-cheaterpants racers that exist in the world of Forza, too! The thing is, when you get in trouble at Yas - when you forget what corner you are about to approach and you badly mangle that approach, often cheating - corner cutting - is your only way OUT.

And it is not just US saying this mind you - more than a few petitions have been created urging Turn 10 to adopt the traditional Flags and Warning Penalty System for just THIS track!

What we want to leave you thinking about as you take a look at the variations below is this: there are a lot of reasons to hate a track - heck, a LOT of racers hate Nürburgring for a bunch of reasons - and do not even get us started about what we feel for Maple Valley mates. The point to this though is that when you look at the reasons that racers give for hating a track, you will find literally dozens of reasons given - dozens of DIFFERENT reasons mind you - but when it comes to Yas Marina Circuit? One reason - Cheating. And that says a lot...

- Yas Marina Circuit Full Circuit (3.45 miles) Day / Night

- Yas Marina Circuit North Circuit (1.96 miles) Day / Night

- Yas Marina Circuit South Circuit (1.47 miles) Day / Night

- Yas Marina Circuit North Circuit Alt (1.43 miles) Day / Night

- Yas Marina Circuit Corkscrew (2.95 miles) Day / Night

Track Conclusions

While the initial track and venue offerings for Forza Motorsport 6 are arguably far more complete and extensive than the initial track offerings contained in the previous series offering, Forza Motorsport 5, what you may be missing is the fact that the track list in FM6 is just the starting point for this celebrated racing series!

While there has been no official comment by the wizards behind the game, word is that the upcoming expansion pack-based DLC is intended to contain additional tracks as well as modified new tracks at the existing venues, so hey, we should celebrate!

Crack Two!