Welcome racers,
This is a friendly hot lapping competition, with a new challenge every week with a fresh selection of cars on a new track.
No registration necessary, all you need to do is post your times here in a correct format (see below). You can build your car in any way you want, as long as it matches the selection and PI restriction. Then go into Rivals mode, and have fun.
We’re competing for points, which cannot be redeemed for anything, and in fact do not serve any purpose. This is all for fun, for the spirit of friendly competition, to exchange tips and tricks on tuning, cars, and all things Forza.
See below in this main post for:
- The details of the active challenge
- A poll for you to vote on to influence the next challenge
- How to submit a time
- Others questions and answers
- Previous event links and gallery
This week’s challenge
PHLS#25 - 1964 Triathlon
- Deadline: 2025-05-08T16:00:00Z
- Track: Sunset Peninsula Full Circuit
- Class: A 700
- Eligibility: see below
| Ordinal | ID | Car |
|---|---|---|
| 2401 | Ferrari | 1964 Ferrari F-158 |
| 2980 | Ford | 1964 Ford GT40 MKI |
| 1155 | Shelby | 1965 Shelby Cobra Daytona Coupe |
At first glance, the Ford GT40 MkI, the Ferrari F-158 and the Shelby Daytona have very little in common. And that’s precisely the reason they were chosen, because in this season one finale, you get two competitions for the price of one.
First, you’ll be battling for the leaderboard as always, best time in the fastest car wins, you know how it goes.
But second, by driving and submitting a time for all three cars, you open a new leaderboard where what counts is your cumulated time on all three cars.
Double leaderboards means double opportunity for points. This event will also run for two weeks instead of the usual one.
Would you like to know more?
The origins, from Grand Prix to F1 and the 24 heures
Today, Formula One is the most prestigious motorsport competition, closely followed by the 24 heures du Mans. But did you know these two very different competitions have a common ancestor?
The term Grand Prix comes from the 1906 Grand Prix de l’Automobile Club de France. It wasn’t strictly speaking the first such race, the Paris-Rouen Horseless Carriage Contest of 1894 is generally considered the first motorsport race, and for a few years, all major motorsport events were point-to-point races between cities, on public (dirt) roads.
In 1900, motorsports got into the Summer Olympics (with almost exclusively French competitors), but more importantly the first Gordon Bennett Cup event was held. The Cup was to be a race opposing the finest automakers and pilots of each nation, and it saw the first application of international racing colours.
The 1906 ACF Grand Prix replaced the Gordon Bennett Cup. It was held near Le Mans, though not on anything close to the current circuit, and was a 12 lap, roughly 12 hour race. It’s only in 1921, when the French Grand Prix returned to Le Mans, that the layout took the shape that is still largely used. The GP lasted 4 hours, but it already had the Hunaudières, the Mulsanne Corner, Indianapolis and Arnage, Maison Blanche and Tertre Rouge.
Two years later, in 1923, the Automobile Club de l’Ouest reused that same layout for a new race, but this time not a Grand Prix. It wasn’t strictly the first endurance race, but it was the first time drivers weren’t fighting against the clock, but rather against the odometer. And thus began the 24 heures du Mans.
The layout of the 24 heures evolved slightly over the years, but the formula remained the same. Grand Prix races however would evolve significantly. Every year, a varying number of Grandes Épreuves and minor Grand Prix were held, it was a bit of a mess, and in 1950 the FIA decided to reorganise all that into a coherent season of Grand Prix racing. The result was the World Championship of Drivers, with a set number of events, a point system, and it quickly became known by the name of its highest category: Formula One.
F1 64
When F1 started in 1950, the Scuderia Ferrari was already there. In fact, Ferrari hasn’t missed a single season in 75 years, making both its own chassis and its own engines. And with that longevity comes a few wins, 15 driver titles and 16 constructor titles total.
F1 evolved a lot over the years, and the 1964 Ferrari 158 is a pure product of the 1960s.
It’s rear-mid engine. This might seem obvious today, but it hasn’t always been. Enzo thought the horses should always come before the cart, but in 1960 it’s a mid-engine Cooper T51 that won, and Enzo had to relent. From 1961, Ferrari’s F1s would be mid-engined, like everybody else’s.
It has no aero. The first wings appeared in the 1968 season, and before that, a F1 was little more than a metal tub with 4 wheels. They were often difficult to control and of course lacked any safety equipment you can find on modern race cars. Until the 80s, there was usually one death a year during the F1 season.
It was Rosso Corsa. In 1964 F1 teams were still using the national racing colours established during the days of the Gordon Bennett Cup, and naturally Ferrari raced in red. The first sponsored liveries appeared in 1968, and it was a tobacco company that shot first. Indeed, in the 1960s, reports on the health risks of tobacco were coming out, and motorsport was a loophole allowing them to circumvent advertising bans that were starting to roll out.
It was driven by a Brit. John Surtees took his first, and only, championship in 1964 with the F-158. Before 1950, Grand Prix had been dominated by the French, the Germans, and the Italians. The Argentinian Juan Manuel Fangio and Italian Alberto Ascari marked the first decade of Formula One, taking 7 of the 10 titles, but starting in the late 50s and all through the 1960s, it was British and Australian drivers that dominated.
Ford, Shelby, and Le Mans
The AC Ace is a British roadster powered by a Bristol straight-six (in fact, a BMW engine design taken as a war trophy after WWII). In the early 60s, famed race driver Carroll Shelby was looking to make his own racecar, wanting something light and powerful, and looked to European manufacturers for inspiration. When Bristol ceased production of their engine, Shelby seized the opportunity and offered AC to provide them big ‘ol Ford V8s.
The AC/Shelby Cobra was born. AC would provide the chassis, Shelby would forward the engines from Ford. 998 chassis were built, 665 received the “small” 289 cu.in. V8, while 343 received the biggest engine option, the 7.0L Ford FE 427.
In 1963, AC took a Cobra with the “small” 289 engine to Le Mans, finished 4th in GTs behind three Ferrari 250 GTOs. Carroll Shelby, having his own beef with Enzo Ferrari, took to heart to develop a race version specially dedicated to beating the 250 GTO. In 1964, Shelby brought one Cobra Daytona Coupe to Le Mans, and finished 1st in GTs. Job done.
That win would attract the attention of Ford, looking for someone to take over the development of the GT40. The story of the GT40 is well known. Ford was an old brand for old people, and Henry Ford Jr accepted the idea that participating in motorsport would give Ford’s image a boost. Ford approached Ferrari, but Enzo and Henry butted heads, and Henry Ford Jr ended up spending a cool billion trying to humiliate Enzo Ferrari where it would hurt the most: Le Mans.
Ford chose the Lola Mk6 as the basis for its future GT, and as a result the GT40 MkI was developed in England with a bunch of British engineers. While Shelby beat Ferrari in 1964, Ford struggled and all three GT40s entered broke down. Ford approached Carroll Shelby, handing him the development of the GT40. After an unsuccessful attempt in 1965 (6 cars entered, 0 finishes), Shelby would complete the GT40 MkII, swapping the Windsor V8 for the 427 Ford FE, the same he put in the Cobra. This would be good enough to take all three podium spots in 1966.
The Cobra and GT40 thus have a linked history. Both are very rare, and thus very expensive collector’s items. However, there are a number of replicas and “continuation cars” that have been built over the decades, often less prestigious but sometimes with upgraded components and better performance than the originals.
Replicas are a niche, but profitable business. Profitable, and at times ruthless. The market for original Cobras was so tight that in the early 1990s, Shelby thought to capitalise on it, by ordering new chassis and trying to have them registered as original AC chassis. Ford, on the other hand, forgot to register the name GT40, and a replica builder took the name. This is why the 2000s revival had to be simply named Ford GT.
Vote for the next events
There will be no vote for 25 and 26.
How to submit times
To submit a time, you need to post it in the following format, before the event’s deadline:
PHLS#1
ZCar#1:08.042
Respectively:
- The challenge number you’re submitting to.
- The car and time marker. On the left side, you must enter a valid ordinal or identifier (provided in the main post as part as the event details, or in the event sheet). On the right side, you must enter a valid time (use
:and.as minute (if necessary) and decimal separators). - Some kind of proof that shows you’re on the correct track, with an eligible car, in the correct class, and of course your time. If your time is your current best, it will show up in the game’s leaderboards, this is prefered if possible.
Legacy format
This is the original format submission. It remains available for new events, but is slightly less convenient.
PHLS#1
TIME#1:08.042
CAR#343 or CAR#ZCar
Respectively:
- The challenge number you’re submitting to.
- The time you are posting. Do use
:and.as minute (if necessary) and decimal separators. - The ordinal number or identifier of the car used for your time, provided in the main post as part of the event details, or in the event sheet.
- Some kind of proof that shows you’re on the correct track, with an eligible car, in the correct class, and of course your time. If your time is your current best, it will show up in the game’s leaderboards. Otherwise, a picture such as this will suffice:
Questions?
About the magic robot
Why this format?
Submissions are collected by a magic robot, that will then process them and figure out who is the fastest. As such, it needs to code words (e.g. PHLS#, TIME#, CAR#) to know that you’re submitting a time and not simply discussing with other players.
How many times can I submit?
As many as you want. There is no limit. The bot will collect them all and figure out which is your fastest time.
You can also submit several times in a single post, as long as have the same number of TIME# and CAR# tags, and they’re in the same order.
I made a mistake in my submission, what do I do?
Mistakes happen. You can edit and update your submission all the way until the deadline. Do not edit your post after the deadline, or the magic robot will not count it.
If there’s a mistake to correct after the deadline, or if you have any other problem or question regarding submissions, tag me @AdmPatate and I’ll look into it.
How often will the magic robot work?
When I see a time is posted, provided it’s between business hours and sleeping hours, and outside vacation time. The process is automated, not automatic. So if your time doesn’t immediately appear in the leaderboard, don’t panic.
As long as you post before the deadline and is valid, your time will eventually by counted.
Does the robot verifies submissions?
No, the robot doesn’t do any verification, humans do. Submissions require some kind of proof so that everybody can audit the results. If you see a post that doesn’t check out, you can challenge it by tagging me @AdmPatate and whomever you’re challenging, replying or linking to the post you are challenging, and a short message like “this time is incorrect” or “this car is not eligible”.
Always be nice to each other, and don’t attribute to malice what is probably a simple error.
Is the magic robot bugged?
There are no bugs, only unintended features.
Event formats
Regular
Most events are regular events. Players can submit as many times as they want, use as many cars as they want, and their best time goes on the leaderboard. Points are awarded based on how many people you beat, with one base point for everybody, plus one point for each person slower than you, plus extra points for the top 3 (if there are more than 5 players).
Sidequest
These are event runs like a regular event, with an additional, optional challenge: the Sidequest. Sidequests do not award points, and are merely offered for the fun of it.
Sidequest are an alternative to banning cars too OP for the category, or unobtainable for new players, or for other creative challenges as they may arise.
Versus
In Versus events, cars are split in two (or more) teams of comparable performance. Players can set a time for each team, with their best time for each team going up on the leaderboard. That’s right, you can play on both teams.
Points are still awarded based on how many people you beat. One base point for all, plus one point for each time you beat (this includes your own times in a different team), plus extra points for the top 3. Players who submit times for multiple teams will receive points for their best time only.
The winning team is the team with the best combined first three times. Extra points will be awarded to all players who submitted a time for the winning group.
Group
In a Group event, cars are split in two (or more) groups of comparable performance. Players can set a time for each group, and their best time for each group will be put on the leaderboard. You can indeed play for both groups.
Unlike Versus events, each group is scored individually, using the standard rules of regular events. Players who submit times in multiple groups will be awarded their combined score in both groups.
Other questions
Why can’t I access the event sheet?
The event sheet is public to anyone with the link. The sheet is taken offline when the event rolls over to update final results and such. It might also be taken offline from time to time, for tests and fixes. Just check again later and you should have access again.
Can I make suggestions for future events?
You can. If you have an idea for a theme, for a group of cars to play with, for a particular track of challenge, don’t hesitate to post it.
Which car should I use?
Any car that is eligible for the active challenge. If you want to narrow the choice down, you have a few options.
- Look at the leaderboard on the Current tab of the event sheet to see which cars the top players are using.
- Explore the Car Details tab of the event sheet to sort and filter cars according to your preferences.
- Test them all. You can submit as many times as you want, using as many cars as you want after all.
How do I sort and filter cars on the Car Details tab?
First, get yourself an editable filter view.
Option A
Open this link to the Car Details tab. You can save it in your favorites for quick access.
Then to the left of the page, click the three dots, then Duplicate view (alternatively, navigate to Data/View options/Duplicate view)
This will unlock the sort and filter options.
Option B
If you open the Car Details tab without an active view, you can simply select one in Data/Change view
You can then duplicate the view as shown in option A, or through Data/View options/Duplicate view.
Whichever option you pick, from there, you should be able to click on a column header down arrow
and access the full range of sorting and filtering options available. You can filter on as many columns as you want. The filters you apply are unique to you, and won’t be seen by other users, so you don’t risk breaking anything.
Previous event results and gallery
All previous event results in detail
2024 event results posts
2025 event results posts
- #10 Junior v Mini
- #11 M.A.S.K. (Modern Affordable Sports Kars)
- #13 GT3 in Barcelona
- #14 Downgrade Challenge
- #15 Players in a Reasonably Priced Car
- #16 Vintage LMP
- #17 GTI Origins
- #18 Queen of Speed
- #19 The Unofficial Official GTX2 Division
- #20 Europe vs Japan (90s Edition)
- #21 Lexus LFA Challenge
- #22 The Origins of Speed, Part 1
- #23 The Origins of Speed, Part 2
- #24 Totally Radical
Want to be featured in the gallery? Post a picture that illustrates the current challenge, tag me, and it might end up here.
#11 picture by pooshedpork
#12 #14 #24 pictures by Operator1
