Club TORA
With GRID Autosport now in the hands of the tame and not so tame race drivers across the world we thought we’d start to look at the Clubs of GRID Autosport. Who they are, when and where they race and more importantly, how you can get involved.
For our first ever Club Spotlight we caught up with the gentleman racers at TORA to talk to them about their upcoming GRID Autosport events.
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Q1) Tell us a bit about yourselves, just who are TORA?
The Online Racing Association is the world’s first virtual racing organisation recognised by a real-world governing body of motorsport; the MSA UK. We’re even in the Guinness World Records Gamer’s Edition 2012 for it.
As such, TORA’s events are run to MSA regulations; those who race at TORA are on par with real-world racing drivers, without the need for licensing, sponsorship, or even a car.
We’re proudly one of the largest, if not the largest racing community operating mainly on Xbox 360 and Xbox One. Whether you’re a fan of touring cars, GT racers, multi-class endurance or even grand prix, there’s something for everyone at TORA.
We’ve made some great affiliations at TORA, and many of the members who race with us have formed strong bonds with real racing teams. The likes of Aston Martin Racing, SRT Motorsport, Team HARD and more recently Red Bull Racing are staple teams on the track in TORA races, with serious contenders driving for the teams championships.
We’ve broadcasted our races on television with Motors TV, with professional motorsport commentator and close friend of TORA, Jake Sanson and Downforce Radio.
Q2) What made you choose GRID Autosport?
We’re a sucker for any racing game; our members come from all sorts of places, from iRacing to Grand Theft Auto, so we’re always interested in upcoming racing games.
Many of the older members at TORA had grown up with old Codemasters games, like Colin McRae or TOCA. In fact, for many, it was the TOCA series which got people into racing and, moreover, motorsport. GRID Autosport was reminiscent of the classics we had grown to love, so we had to try it out.
TORA isn’t about 20 different versions of the same Japanese car; it’s about hardcore gentleman’s grassroots racing, and that’s exactly what Autosport gives us.
In May we visited Codemasters to try out the game. Despite it being an old build, we were still very impressed. In fact, we’re even more impressed at the improvements from then till launch!
Q3) You’re currently running a Demo Derby event, can you tell us a bit more about it?
Demolition Derby is something we haven’t really done before at TORA. The Demo Derby was hugely popular in both GRID and GRID 2, so we’re hosting a three-week series using the Autosport rendition on Xbox 360, before we move on to some faster contemporary machinery.
For first place at the end of the series there’s a GRID Autosport season pass to win, and there’ll be a random prize draw to win some Sparco gear as an incentive to enter as many of the races as you can. There’s practically no rules, so it’s all to play for!
The races are on Fridays at 9pm BST (4pm EDT, 1pm PDT), starting on the 25th July and running weekly, and each meeting will last in total approximately 45 mins.
However, if we find that there’s a lot of people who can’t make the race due to time restraints (such as conflicting time zones), the time or date may change.
Q4) If anyone playing on Xbox 360 wanted to get involved, what’s the best way to do it?
It’s pretty straight forward; take a look at our website, read the “About Us” section if you’re interested, then head over to the “Go Racing” page and follow the instructions! Then it’s as simple as heading to the Demolition Derby section on the forum, reading the rules and regulations, and signing up.
On the week of the race, there will be a “sign-in” thread posted, in which you need to reply to confirm your attendance in the race. All you have to do from there is come online at the right time!
Q5) If you had to describe TORA in three words, what would they be?
We’re real racing.
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