So here it is...
...Early for a change
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The MSA TORA Maximum Group Volkswagen Audi Group Trophy has ended so its time to Edit the replays into something that will be Motors TV Worthy. We're going to push further than we ever did with the GTs and Touring Cars on Motors so could those that took part and saved their replays please send them to the Gamertag "Standaman94" (his HDD should be quite spacious.)


It would probaby help if we didn't pretend that it didn't happen. The "Friendly Forfeit" by Close Quarters Racing, missing round 5 and therefore making it their dropped points round, not only opened up the drivers championship before the final round, but it also caused confusion and chaos in the interpretation of the Teams Championship once the final chequered flag fell.


Daniel Grain in the dominant in dayglo CQR Scirooco won Class A, therefore he'll be annoying another CQR comrade and VWphile Rusty Laidler by being given a test drive in one of the cars taking part in the real Maximum Group VAG Trophy. Sam James won the Golf-heavy Class B trophy, and VIP Tickets to an event taking place at Brands Hatch, a prize draw for all the competitors that took part lead to Andy Hunt winning the MSA TORA Maximum Group VAG Trophy Poster.

There are two "Official" TORA championships remaining on FM4 before we make the big leap to Project CARS. World GTs on Sundays and Aussie V8s on Saturdays.
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While the "Main Event" is complete (which is a bit unfair to say considering half of the TORA world probably wanted to take part, specifically those between the Mountan and Western American timezones) the "VAG America" series has also been running, a day later than the Tuesday slot occupied by the event on THIS side of the Atlantic (nobody corrected me on this a couple of Outsiders ago, thought it was the Touring Car Tuesday slot for both, do you even read bro?).


The same 6 venues, with the 2 races per meeting setup, The same 2 class structure as the Prize Giving version, a total of 17 points scorers by the end of it, and the ratio of Sciroccos in Class A (and '92 Golfs in Class B) similar to the Maximum Group backed series.

The American Timezone-friendly championship was won by an outsider, not from Canada, or even Mexico, but Scotland's Gordon "Skodaboie" Anderson took the Class A glory in a Rockstar Banger Racing Scirocco GT (I Wonder how good a Fabia or an Octavia would have been if it was in Forza), and Paul Massey taking Class B with one of the ever-present Golfs. Two Happy cats, even happier than they were in a race I'll be talking about later in this edition of The Outsider.

Anderson's championship win was a very close one, a mere 6 points from another Happy Cat member, Sam James albeit with a different colour fur, for Warpath Martini HCR W/ ORD.

VAG America was organised by Flyin Mikey J, and his next championship, mentioned in a previous Outsider, TCR Classics, is due to start this Saturday.
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Another Retrogasm has appeared on TORA via Forza Motorsport 5, in the form of the Audi 90 Quattro that occasionally took part in the GTO Category of the 1989 IMSA GT Championship and regularly obliterated the opposition. A car that would have been driven by the Audi Legends Hans-Joachim Stuck and Walter Röhrl, a toe in the water for a non-rallying Audi works team before they would head back to Germany and obliterate the opposition in the original DTM a year later.


Not everyone in the IMSA GTO class of 1989 had an Audi 90 Quattro, but thanks to Turn 10 (thanks Turn 10), everyone on Forza five can now race each other in one of these and the North American arm of the TORA Spec Cup are giving you the opportunity >>>Here<<<, However for any Brits wanting to join in the retro fever it does mean staying up late, with the television volume down low, at 1am.
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You'd think this race has appeared in this article a bit late by The Outsider's standards, or "Early" by anything in a Motorsport magazine's standards, but it's worth a mention having spoken about it on the last podcast we made.


The "Anglo-Italian Cup" of endurance racing as two sportscars of an old-skool nature, the Lotus Esprit and Ferrari F355challenge respectively, were put to the endurance sword around the most awkward of long circuits that doesn't have any chicanes, in the shape of L'Autodromo del Mugello, or as its known in English: Mugello, for the TCR NoScope Mugello 500.
An event adapting the Time-Over-Distance ethos that the Forza 5 based TORA Pro GTs utilise, the first time in a long while I've seen that format happen on Forza 4, probably before my TORA-time (the first time around), for a 500 kilometre race, a distance more commonly seen being endured around one of Italy's finest spaghetti of tarmac by the European Touring Car Championship of the 70s and 80s.


The race was won by Happy Cat Racing "HCR Nerds" in one of Norfolk's finest, the duo of Jay Steel and Pete "PlayerAsleep" completed the 500 virtual kilometers in 5 hours, 16 minutes and 18 seconds, almost 3 minutes (and therefore one lap ahead) of their Happy Cat team mates, the foursome of Gordon Anderson, Chris Borders, Jeff Eichinger, and Paul Massey in the "HCR Merica" F355. This TORA Community Racers event was hosted by the Clean Racers Association, and the entry list contained a majority of CRA members, and one of their cars did get to the podium, the "Darth Vader Racing" Lotus Esprit finishing third, Tedroy Brooks took the start, and then Henrik Nielsen triple stinted the remainder of the race to put the car just over a mintue behind 2nd place.

Victors Jay and Pete were awarded a pair of Hydra Gaming Glasses from the race sponsors NoScope.

The TORA Community Racers will no doubt be producing a few more events on Forza 4 for another year or so, and the remainder of them, including the The Builders Cup Transit Vans, can be found >>>Here<<<
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From now on, the outsider will be a fortnighly report on a Monday evening, expect The Outsider #4 to appear on your online doorstep on the 4th of May (Must. Not. Starwarsday. Must. Resist...)