My FH5 Log: Parting Shot

Forza Horizon 5 has delivered its final update, which is now available on Xbox Series X|S, PC via STEAM, and, for the first time in Forza history, on PlayStation 5. Welcome to Horizon Realms!

What is Horizon Realms? This new feature allows players to revisit areas from past updates, such as:

- The Retrowave Highway from the Horizon Retrowave update

- The Oval Track from the High Performance update

- The Cars and Coffee venue

- The Summer Party location

- The Midnight Neon Airstrip

- The Lunar Drift Arena

- Dia De Muertos

- The Stadium Maze from Hidden Horizons

- Winter Wonderland

- The Stunt Park

- The Ice Rink

- The Stadium Track, which debuted in the last-ever FH5 update

With Horizon Realms, you can relive these exciting locations!

Each realm offers two gameplay modes: Free Mode and Skill Mode. In Free Mode, players can explore the realm solo or with friends. In contrast, Skill Mode lets players compete to set skill score records on their chosen realm. There is a new set of accolades to beat as well as four new prize cars.

Win the new Stadium Track race to unlock the Lamborghini Revuelto, the newest hypercar packed with a 6.5L V12 PHEV powertrain and the first Lamborghini to break the thousand horsepower barrier.

Complete Skill Mode in one Realm to unlock the Hennessey Mammoth 1000 6x6 TRX. Based on the RAM 1500 TRX, it's the ultimate V8 six-wheeler that can rip through all kinds of roads, even if they're rough.

Complete Skill Mode in six Realms to unlock the Lotus Exige Cup 430, the ultimate swansong for the Exige, powered by an improved 3.5L V6 supercharged engine producing 430HP of power.

Complete Skill Mode in all Realms to unlock the Lamborghini Huracan Sterrato, an off-road special limited to 1,499 units. It's powered by a 610PS 5.2L V10 engine mated to a 7-speed DCT, sprinting from 0-100kph in 3.4 seconds and a top speed of 260kph.

Having obtained the four new accolade cars, it's time for me to have a go with these four masters of realms, just to get a taste of their performance.

So, what do you think? Well, the fun doesn't stop with these four because there's one final Forza Horizon 5 DLC car pack, the Nissan Retro Rides Car Pack. It features four Nissan cars that came straight from the legendary Pike factory. These iconic Nissan Pike cars are...

The Nissan Be-1

The Nissan PAO

The Nissan S-Cargo

And the cream of the crop, the Nissan Figaro.

These four Nissan cars that came out of the Pike Factory are well known for their rarity and uniqueness, worthy of being called a collector's item. Now...

I got the chance to drive these four Pike cars to show their worth. Roll the tape.

No kidding. The Figaro is the peak of the Nissan Pike Factory car roster. No wonder Sarah Jane Smith drove one in The Sarah Jane Adventures.

With the addition of Horizon Realms and the Nissan Retro Rides car pack, Forza Horizon 5 has officially reached a final car total of 899. This includes all 899 cars from purchasable items, prize cars, Forza Edition cars, and DLCs.

As I said before, let's enjoy the final days of Forza Horizon 5. Let's make the final moments of Horizon Mexico special, for this will be the final stop of the Forza Horizon saga. It's a shame there won't be another Forza Horizon after this.

Whether you've been playing this game on your Xbox Series consoles since Day 1 or starting Forza Horizon 5 for the first time on your PlayStation5, it's good to know that you have enjoyed the best Forza Horizon game ever made. Come on, let's make the final days count.

My FM Log: Spirit of Forza Motorsport - Audi R8 V10

2025 marks the 20th anniversary of the Forza Motorsport series. To commemorate this milestone, let’s take a look back at the cover cars from the Forza Motorsport franchise, starting with the very first game released in 2005 and continuing through to the final installment launched in 2023.

Let's continue with the Audi R8 5.2 V10 FSi quattro, the supercar that graced the cover of 2009's Forza Motorsport 3 video game.

Named after a winning Le Mans Prototype race car, inspired by the Le Mans quattro concept, and running on the same components as the Lamborghini Gallardo, the Audi R8 served as the company's image leader when it made its debut in 2007.

When it was launched, it was initially available only with the 420HP V8 FSi engine, but two years later, the V10 variant of the Audi R8 was added. It features the same 5.2L V10 engine from the Lamborghini Gallardo LP560-4, but it only produces 518bhp of power, sprinting from 0-100kph in less than four seconds. Aside from the engine, the R8 is armed with a quattro all-wheel-drive system and an Audi Space Frame aluminum body.

The Audi R8 V10 is offered with a choice of a coupe and an open-top roadster. There's even a limited-edition GT model that shaved 100kg of weight and improved its V10 engine to produce 560HP of power.

Let's have a commemorative drive around Le Mans Circuit de la Sarthe, the place where the Audi R8 was inspired by. Roll the tape.

Although it doesn't live up to its namesake, it proved its worth.

The Audi R8 cemented its status as the brand's image leader, and its presence as the cover car of Forza Motorsport 3 showcased its “vorsprung durch technik” philosophy to both worlds.

WHERE DREAMS ARE DRIVEN

Next time, let's take a look at the Ferrari 458 Italia, the cover car of Forza Motorsport 4.

Let's Do The News! (May 26, 2025)

                   

Your daily round-up of today's news...

- The COMELEC targets the resolution of all disqualification and cancellation cases by June 30.

- More government officials and appointees to be targeted in Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.’s ongoing evaluation.

- Philippine Vice President Sara Duterte is en route to the Middle East and the Netherlands for ten days. She will first meet the Filipino community in Qatar tomorrow, followed by her visit to the Netherlands on May 30th to check on her father, former president Rodrigo Duterte.

- Former President Rodrigo Duterte’s legal counsel insists that President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. is the ‘real prosecutor’ in the former president’s case at the ICC. Meanwhile, the DILG is coordinating with the ICC to allow former President Rodrigo Duterte to be sworn in as Davao City mayor.

- The Philippine National Police (PNP) has assured that they will further tighten the security of the Korean community in the country. This follows several incidents in which several Korean nationals were victimized.

- Senator Jinggoy Estrada confirms that his son and his nephew were hurt in the Boracay attack.

- The 46th ASEAN Summit has commenced. Southeast Asian leaders have been gathering in Malaysia for talks about how to deal with the economy amid the US tariff situation, the ongoing war in Gaza, China's activities in the Pacific, and so on.

- The US State Department travel advisory states that it is dangerous for the safety of its citizens to travel to the Philippines due to crime, terrorism, civil unrest, and kidnapping. Re-elected Cagayan de Oro City Rep. Rufus Rodriguez has condemned the advisory issued by the United States advising its citizens not to travel to the Philippines. Rodriguez said this is unfair and should not be done to us by the United States as its number one ally, especially since many places in the Philippines are safe for tourists to visit.

- BMW unveiled the Speedtop Concept in Villa d'Este, which previews another limited-production special model coming soon with a limited run of 50 units.

BMW Speedtop Concept

- The Glickenhaus 007s was unveiled. It is a road-legal version of the race car powered by a 6.2L dry-sumped V8 engine with 1000bhp of power.

Glickenhaus 007s

- The next two seasons of Netflix's Avatar: The Last Airbender TV series cast Dolly de Leon and Jon Jon Briones.

TTFN.

2025 NASCAR Cup Series - Coca-Cola 600

Wrapping up The Greatest Day in Motorsports is NASCAR's colossal oval race, the Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway. For the first time ever, this race was streamed on Amazon Prime Video. Amazingly, despite his accident at the INDY 500, Kyle Larson managed to show up in Charlotte, proving to the world that he's still in his fighting form.

As the green flag waved, the longest NASCAR race ever, streaming live for the first time ever on Prime Video, has commenced. The first stage saw Kyle Larson, reeling from his Indy 500 accident, sliding through but managing to avoid a collision, followed by Alex Bowman colliding with the wall and spinning. As William Byron wins Stage 1, Stage 2 saw Jimmie Johnson's chain reaction that caught Cole Custer and Connor Zilisch in this mess. 

With Byron nabbing Stage 2, the race got paused for their Memorial Day tradition. When Stage 3 commenced, Zane Smith got crashed on the backstretch, followed by a big one that got Ryan Blaney, Kyle Larson, and Daniel Suarez out of the race. As Stage 3 wrapped up with Byron, the finale saw Carson Hocevar's spinning disaster, followed by Tyler Reddick's dramatic crash, and a surprise attack by Ross Chastain that snagged Byron's lead with 10 laps to go.

Screengrab from NASCAR

The Greatest Day in Motorsports ends with Ross Chastain, the winner of the Coca-Cola 600 of the NASCAR Cup Series!

Mission accomplished for NASCAR's first race to be streamed on Prime Video. The next race will be in Nashville for the Cracker Barrel 400 this June 1, 2025.

NTT IndyCar Series 2025 - INDY 500

Every Memorial Day weekend, the Greatest Spectacle in Racing comes to life in Indianapolis Motor Speedway. It's called the INDY 500, and for this year, it's going to be a lot different than previous INDY 500 races. Alex Palou may be this season's current leader, but will he win his first INDY 500 race in his career? Time to find out.

Due to the weather conditions that caused a delay to the race start, the track conditions were cool, and this spelled disaster for Scott McLaughlin in the middle of pace laps. As the green flag waved, Marco Andretti crashed out of the race. Come Lap 19, the weather conditions placed the race on the yellow flag for 11 laps before resuming.

40 laps down with Alexander Rossi leading, misfortune strikes on the pit lane as Rossi's car caught fire. Lap 87 saw Rinus Veekay spinning on the pit lane, followed by Kyle Larson's accident on Lap 92 that caught Kyffin Simpson and Sting Ray Robb, gutting the NASCAR driver out of the race.

Image: IndyCar

Behind Nolan Siegel's last-lap crash, Alex Palou made headlines in Indianapolis. Alex Palou trumped Marcus Ericsson and David Malukas to become the first Spaniard to win the Indy 500. At long last, a Spanish driver will have his face marked on the legendary Borg-Warner Trophy.

The Indy 500 is over, but the 2025 NTT IndyCar Series rages on with the Chevrolet Detroit Grand Prix this June 1, 2025.

F1 2025 - TAG Heuer Grand Prix de Monaco

The streets of Monaco roar to life with the Monaco Grand Prix of the 2025 F1 season, one of the greatest races of the weekend ahead of IndyCar's Indy 500 and NASCAR's Coca-Cola 600. With the implementation of the mandatory two-pitstop rule, drivers are making tight strategies to survive and conquer Monaco's plot twists.

Image: F1

Thanks to Max Verstappen's late pitstop ahead of the final lap, Lando Norris of McLaren managed to win his first Monaco Grand Prix of his career, beating the likes of last year's winner Charles Leclerc of Ferrari and fellow McLaren driver Oscar Piastri, who is currently leading the championship standings.

Behind Norris' late Monaco win come some not-so-great moments in Monaco, such as Pierre Gasly's collision with Yuki Tsunoda that sent the former packing, as well as Fernando Alonso calling it quits due to mechanical failures.

As Piastri and the rest of McLaren are still leading, despite his third-place finish, there's plenty of action as F1's 75th anniversary celebrations will continue in Catalunya for the Aramco Gran Premio de España this June 1st, 2025.

DTM 2025: Lausitzring

Amid the loudest race weekend of the year, the 2025 DTM season continues in Lausitzring, further amping up the volume for excitement, making it a great way to warm up race fans before the big day.

Screengrab from DTM

The first race saw Austrian driver Lucas Auer, piloting the Team Landgraf AMG GT3, defeat DTM veterans Lucas Auer and Rene Rast to win. In the final race, meanwhile, Jack Aitken beat Rast, while Jules Gounon completed the podium by finishing third.

With two venues and four races down, Lucas Auer leads with 69 points, 6 points ahead of Jules Gounon, and Jordan Pepper is in third with 55 points.

The next event will be at Zandvoort this June 5-8, 2025.