Please continue to vote on this topic if you are affected. Reply with details about your platform and which car and game mode you were in, and any steps you can show to reproduce the bug.
@T10ManteoMax oval Circuit is a wonderful addition. Please let the devs know this is a really appreciated addition and that hopefully more tracks will be added.
Although, I would also like to report that any exhibition race at that same oval, results in the car starting in reverse gear. Happened after the first race. Car is in “R” not first gear at the start. Doesn’t matter what gearing options are selected.
Not sure how this gets missed in testing but might be the perfect combo of difficulty settings + new race environment that causes this. More testing on my end needs to be done.
Noticed this too but not until after a race/other event. Specifically the oval.
Edit: now happening across all events, including sprint rivals. Now completely impossible to do any point to point rivals.
Edit2: now I can hear the car shifting sound during the race loading screen (car rotating).
Edit3: changing button mapping (switching off ANNA for example) fixed the issue for me. Not sure how long it will last.
Im getting the same thing, but with certain cars
I too have the car not shifting out of 1st issue. Some cars seem worse than others but so far every car I’ve driven takes at least one additional button press to shift out of 1st. It’s not as if the game isn’t registering the command because it does shift out of first gear on the first button press, it simply shifts right back into first instead of 2nd. It was either on a Pagani or a Koenigsegg where it was at least 4 times that it reshifted into first before finally deciding to select 2nd. It was repeatable as when I’d select restart even it would do the same thing.
I’ve also started races a few time in reverse and like the above poster said, you don’t even know until “Go”.
This was happening on both PC with Win 11 and on a Series X.
Same here, on XSX. Tried adjusting my button mapping, but still happening. Almost seems like it’s engaging the clutch (which I’m not using) rather than changing gears
I submitted a ticket for the reverse gear bug and the support member asked me questions so they could direct to the right department.
I suggested whoever’s responsible for the new launch control feature, as this is also not shutting off properly, when turning it off in settings.
Also getting the reverse gear starts for the past day or more. Playing on XSX console.
I thought I was imagining it or doing it myself but just confirmed. It’s at race starts and exiting into free-roam… seems to be any time the car respawns. Oddly it does NOT do it will do it when simply doing a car-reposition respawn while in freeroam already. Super irritating bug. Wondering if it’s launch-control related.
Found a fix it seems…
My Sport Quattro is one of the cars of mine doing this also. (I know there are others but I can’t figure out which any longer.) I changed trans a couple times and had no effect. Then I changed the clutch from stock to street (had stock in this particular car) and the bug was gone when I exited. So I went back into garage and put the stock clutch back on. Bug is still gone - fingers crossed. Very weird bug.
edit:
Well, I just tried the same thing with my 08 Evo X WP and it didn’t work. Still spawns in reverse gear after swapping clutch (also tried trans and other combos) around several times. Don’t know what the common denominator is, but my 83 Quattro seems fixed now somehow.
EDIT AGAIN (sorry):
Fixed the EVO for a moment. This time by reloading the tune I have saved for the current build. No other changes. Just reloaded that tune and exited and it stopped coming out in reverse, but not every time. I give up.
This is weird.
I have this bug happening 9/10 races myself, and 1/10 times I have to shift up from 1st gear twice to get to second gear. It’s annoying. The revs drop just like it would when changing the gear up, but the transmission won’t go into second and just selects the 1st gear again.
Mine is mis-shifting as well. Usually notice trying to shift into 3rd on corner exit. Will occasionally shift but into the same gear (2nd), so speed is lost, and then more since you don’t realize until the RPMs are screaming and so shift again. Just like a missed shift. It’s not very fast. 
So far my car ends up in reverse randomly after races, but not on other occasions.
I’ve also managed through probably hitting the arrow keys to get the view stuck in reverse. It was easily fixed by hitting the up arrow key, but did not right itself.
Hello, after the update, very often at the start of the race is in reverse gear
microsoft store
Having this issue as well, hope it gets resolved soon. Hard to have a good start in a race if you start in reverse
The game Forza Horizon 5, starts in reverse gear, and I have two first gears to get through, in order to get to the second gear, and there’s another issue with the Launch Control, these bugs have happened since the last two or three updates, I went into the difficulty settings, I checked, all looked ok, and the Launch Control was marked as deactivated, but I had to activate and directly de-activate Launch Control to actually deactivated it, but each time I start the game, it reactivates itself, so I keep having to repeat that each time. I hope they are looking into that too !!
I’ll just have to wait for them to sort this out.
Holy smokes! It isn’t only starting randomly in reverse like said above now. It is doing it in races, too!!!
The worst part is that you won’t even realise it until you put your foot down because the rev counter which displays the gears isn’t shown at the start.
This by the way happend in two of the three Horizon Tour races of which this was the first one.
@PlageBLN Are you using M/MC? I know AudibleJam does.
I use auto and haven’t had it so far, tried a drag race, rivals event + a couple of Open drifts after seeing the posts about it.
I’m using a G29 and manual without clutch. And no, it’s not a stuck/defective microswitch that’s causing this. Just to point that out.
Yup, just finished testing this. If you shut off any chance of manual gear changes, it seems to be fine. Not a nice workaround but one nonetheless.
It seems the “reverse gear” issue is not exclusive to the trial. Every time I exit an event, or my “house” or a reload in free roam, I end up in reverse. Also I noticed when racing at the oval, the first gear change doesn’t happen smoothly (button press), so I have to press shift up again for it to actually happen.