The American Le Mans Series announced its partnership with Microsoft Game Studios in the release this week of the highly acclaimed Forza Motorsport 3, the culmination of more than a year’s worth of technical and commercial development with Microsoft’s Turn 10 Studios. Exclusive to the Xbox 360 platform, the racing simulation is chock full of American Le Mans Series content that will introduce the Series to a new fanbase. The game extends the experience of its franchise predecessors by taking the genre to new heights in terms of realism, physics, online competition, and user-generated content.
 | | A pair of Flying Lizard Porsches are part of the Forza 3 lineup. Image: Turn 10 Studios at Microsoft Game Studios. |
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Forza Motorsport 3 features up-to-date American Le Mans Series race cars such as the No. 16 Dyson Racing Mazda-powered Lola coupe, the No. 45 Flying Lizard Porsche 911 GT3 RSR and the No. 92 BMW Rahal Letterman Racing Team BMW M3 GTR. There are 27 different American Le Mans Series race cars including even Patrón GT3 Challenge entries alongside a number of historic IMSA race cars. Classic Series circuits like Sebring, Road Atlanta, Road America and Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca add appeal for sports car and road racing fans around the world.
“Microsoft and its Forza Motorsport brand have established themselves as the benchmark of cutting-edge gaming technology - a perfect match to what the American Le Mans Series represents in professional motorsport,” said Scott Atherton, Series President and CEO. “While there is no substitute for the sights and sounds of an American Le Mans Series race, Forza Motorsport 3 does an unbelievable job of recreating it with truly lifelike accuracy and detail. The fact that many of the world-class cars and race tracks of the American Le Mans Series will be brought into millions of homes around the world through this game means the exposure for our teams, manufacturers and marketing partners will reach unmatched levels. And I bet we cultivate a whole new category of fans –-those who will learn about us first through Forza 3 and then want to see the real thing in person. Everyone wins.”
 | | Dyson Racing's Lola-Mazda coupe is part of the Forza 3 lineup. Image: Turn 10 Studios at Microsoft Game Studios. |
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Critical acclaim is already coming in…including those from the driving community. “It's a very real experience,” American Le Mans Series driver Stefan Johansson told reporters in an early review. “I got back in my old Audi (R8), and both the graphics on the track and the feel of the car were absolutely incredible - every bump, every braking point is in the exact same place.”
When Peugeot factory driver Stéphane Sarrazin visited the studio just before racing his 908 HDi prototype at Petit Le Mans in September, his lap times on Forza’s rendering of Road Atlanta were within 0.2 second of his qualifying time there a few days later, according to AutoWeek.
“We’ve played a bit of Forza here in the AW office and it’s great,” says Motorsports Editor Mac Morrison. “In my view the best part is the wide selection of actual race cars, not just exotic street cars that you can tune.”
Past and present entries from American Le Mans Series manufacturers Acura, Aston Martin, Audi, BMW, Chevrolet, Dodge, Ferrari, Maserati, Mazda, Pagani, Panoz, Porsche and Saleen are among those available for game-players. In each case, developers at Turn 10 Studios received actual data on the cars to help accurately model their performance characteristics. The development team attended American Le Mans Series races and gained cooperation from many teams in researching authenticity and capturing great details in livery and performance characteristics.
 | | BMW Rahal Letterman's BMW M3 is one of many BMWs available. Image: Turn 10 Studios at Microsoft Game Studios. |
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Forza Motorsport 3 sets a new standard for game development and video entertainment. With breathtaking HD graphics and the most advanced vehicle performance modeling in a video game, Forza Motorsport 3 includes a host of driving assists and adjustable skill levels to make the game a gripping pick-up-and-play experience for audiences of all ages and skill levels.
The American Le Mans Series
The American Le Mans Series is the global leader in green racing and the premium brand of motorsport in North America, featuring high-tech, relevant sports cars from the most prestigious automobile manufacturers in the world. Its unique four classes of competition showcase exotic, open-top prototypes and sophisticated production-based GT cars, all competing on the track at the same time. The American Le Mans Series competes at the premier road racing tracks across North America and at selected temporary street circuits in major urban markets.
The American Le Mans Series, based on the prestigious 24 Hours of Le Mans, is the only motorsports body in the world that features multiple street-legal alternative energy sources - clean diesel, E10 and E85 ethanol, as well new hybrid technologies. It has taken the leadership role in motorsports for the furthering of alternative fuel technology and use. It also illustrates deeper the Series’ relevance to its list of prestigious manufacturers and affluent consumer base.
About Turn 10
Forza Motorsport 3 is piloted by Turn 10 of Microsoft Game Studios. The experienced development team, led by franchise director Dan Greenawalt, is composed of top developers, real race drivers and car collectors whose pedigrees include work on top racing franchises such as Forza Motorsport, Project Gotham Racing and RalliSport Challenge. In 2007, Turn 10 released its most recent title, Forza Motorsport 2, garnering racing game of the year awards from IGN Entertainment Inc., Yahoo! Inc., GameSpot, and the Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences.
