Behind the scenes at the ForzaRC 2018 Pre-Season Invitational

Miscellaneous General Forza Topics ForzaRC Discussion
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Here’s a collection of 100 photos I took during the weekend of the March 24 ForzaRC 2018 Pre-Season Invitational event, and some of my experience behind the scenes on location.

You can read the basics in the Announcement article, and watch the VOD replay of the day’s racing at the ForzaRC YouTube channel.

In attendance were invitees from teams AMS, F4H, JSR, and TX3, as well as individual drivers G2 Laige, GTz Chriz, bbb0x, and ChicPizza all the way from China. You’ll also see BigBen Williams from TORA, SuperGT, and Alan Walsh (BeetleComet) and Isaac Forcella from FullThrottle Media (they also have recaps online).

You can see the full flickr album here: ForzaRC 2018 PreSeason Invitational | Flickr

Day 1: Thursday

The drivers arrived in Seattle and were treated to a private social event where they could hang out and chat. Some had never met in person but it’s clear they enjoyed getting together. I had the opportunity to talk to ChicPizza through his interpreter. This was his first trip out of China. Although they can’t access Twitter there, he said his club would be able to watch the stream.

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Day 2: Friday

Tech teams were already at work preparing the site for Saturday’s stream before the drivers arrived. Friday was the day that the #73 Park Place Motorsports Porsche GT3 R GTD arrived to take its place next to the caster desk. RBW Triton chipped in to help unload it during some interesting rain and snow. Once it was in place there was a firm rule: “Don’t clean this car!” The Porsche was still wearing its battle scars from the IMSA WeatherTech Championship 12 Hours of Sebring race.

Meanwhile, the Invitational drivers were given a tour of the holy land of Forza: Turn 10 Studios. First stop was the lobby, featuring T10 Head Alan Hartman’s Ford GT, and a walk around the floors to see T10’s trophy case. Then the drivers were given an opportunity to interact with the developers directly, discussing the eSports, the Forza Racing Championship, and Forza Motorsport 7. Being the youngest of the group, Racerz was given the honor of cutting the cake which was decorated with the ForzaRC Invitational image.

“Who would like a professional career in esports?”
“Yep.” “Sure.” “Me.” “Over here.” “I guess?”

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Day 3: Saturday

Race day started bright and early as casters warmed up and tech crews made final preparations. The tech rooms actually took up more space than the broadcast area.
A personal highlight for me was a moment to talk with John Hindhaugh, voice of IMSA Radio and RadioLeMans. His calling of endurance GT races over the years has elevated great races into edge-of-the-seat-experiences. And then to top it off, after everyone had left, I got to take a ride with former T10 dev VoodooUomo with Raceboy77 and bbb0x in Voodoo’s bright yellow Porsche 911 which sounds amazing through Seattle’s tunnels. This was a fantastic weekend, and it was great to see the drivers interact with each other and Turn 10. ForzaRC 2018 looks set to be an exciting season.


https://twitter.com/bbbb0x/status/977719442594439169

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Love this, thanks for sharing Max!