Project Motor Racing adds Apex Nova, an 11.6 km Nordschleife-inspired community circuit built for speed and punishment

Project Motor Racing’s ModHub has gained one of its most ambitious fictional circuits yet. Apex Nova, The Racing Venue is available now as a free community track from Tomas Trlica, the creator behind Highrock Circuit, expanding his original concept into a substantially larger, faster and considerably less forgiving venue inspired by the character of the Nürburgring Nordschleife. The complete configuration stretches 11.6 kilometres, yet the circuit has been deliberately designed around sustained speed rather than endurance-style slow sections: according to the official showcase, a GT3 car can complete the Full layout in roughly four minutes. Four configurations ranging from 5 km to 11.6 km allow drivers to choose how much of the punishment they want, while JP1, LMDh and Group C machinery are specifically identified among the classes Apex was built to challenge. The ModHub lists Apex Nova as Version 1.0.0.0, released on August 21, with a 769.33 MB download available across PC, PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S.

The new Project Motor Racing | ModHub Showcase – Apex Nova arrives at an especially appropriate moment for the sim. Straight4 Studios released Version 2.2 only two days earlier, beginning a major overhaul of the LMDh class with revised hybrid behaviour, brake-by-wire, regenerative braking, tyres, aerodynamics, suspension and chassis dynamics. Apex Nova was already conceived around fast prototypes and high-downforce machinery, so its arrival effectively gives players a new high-speed proving ground just as one of Project Motor Racing’s fastest categories receives its largest physics revision so far.

Apex Nova exists because Highrock worked

Tomas Trlica is not starting from zero. His previous fictional circuit, Highrock Circuit, arrived on the ModHub on April 9 and became one of the platform’s most visible track projects. The official ModHub page identifies TomasT as both author and a member of the Project Motor Racing development team, explaining that Highrock was created partly as a technical showcase for what the ModHub ecosystem could achieve with professional-grade tools. Highrock focused on steep elevation changes, high-speed curves and long straights, was configured for racing with up to 20 drivers and was deliberately designed to test suspension geometry and weight-transfer behaviour. Its current ModHub rating sits around 4.8 from more than 200 ratings, providing a clear indication that the project found an audience.

Apex Nova is explicitly described by Trlica as a response to that reception. Rather than reproducing Highrock with different scenery, he moved toward a much larger concept. Highrock was comparatively short and hilly; Apex’s longest configuration is roughly four times its length. The design objective also changed from creating a compact mountain circuit suited to close racing into building something that constantly pressures the driver across a much longer lap. Trlica says he wanted the environment to create the feeling that the track is always attempting to catch the driver out, with mistakes carrying immediate consequences rather than disappearing into enormous modern runoff areas.

The Nordschleife influence is philosophical rather than an attempt at duplication

Trlica directly names the Nürburgring Nordschleife as one of Apex Nova’s inspirations, but that does not mean the fictional venue is trying to become an unofficial recreation. The influence is primarily about what the Nordschleife demands from a driver: a narrow racing surface, little margin for correction and the constant knowledge that getting a sequence slightly wrong can create consequences several corners later. Apex Nova adopts that philosophy while remaining an original venue with its own layout.

The near-absence of runoff is central to that design. Modern FIA-grade circuits frequently provide large paved or gravel escape zones around their fastest corners, giving drivers some possibility of recovering from an overshoot. Apex intentionally removes much of that safety net. Running a fraction too wide can mean leaving usable road almost immediately, which in turn increases the importance of knowing where the car will be positioned on corner exit before committing to entry speed. That becomes particularly demanding in prototypes because the combination of high aerodynamic load, rapid direction changes and extreme acceleration compresses the time available to correct an error. The challenge is consequently not merely memorising where each corner goes; it is building enough confidence to use the circuit’s speed without crossing the very narrow line between commitment and losing the car.

Four layouts make Apex more useful than one enormous 11.6 km lap

The circuit began as a single design. Trlica originally intended to build what is now the Long configuration, but development expanded as additional sectors were created and connected to the original route. The final Version 1.0 package contains Short at 5 km, Medium at 7 km, Long at 8.5 km and Full at 11.6 km. All four are included in the same ModHub download.

That decision makes Apex considerably more practical. A single 11.6 km circuit can be excellent for long-form driving but awkward for setup testing, short multiplayer sessions or learning unfamiliar machinery because every mistake may require several minutes before the driver reaches the same corner again. The Short and Medium layouts reduce that problem while retaining the overall character of the venue, whereas Long preserves Trlica’s original concept and Full delivers the complete experience. League organizers can also scale race duration through layout choice rather than relying exclusively on lap count, while drivers learning Apex can logically progress from the shorter versions toward the entire circuit instead of attempting to memorize more than eleven kilometres at once.

The official showcase’s claim that a GT3 can lap the 11.6 km Full configuration in around four minutes illustrates how much speed is packed into the design. That average pace means the lap distance does not translate into four minutes of slow technical corners. Apex uses its length to sustain momentum, giving fast machinery room to remain fast while repeatedly placing that speed against narrow margins and limited runoff.

JP1, LMDh and Group C are the machinery Apex was really built around

Trlica states that Apex Nova can be driven with any vehicle in Project Motor Racing, but he specifically identifies JP1, LMDh and Group C among the classes that influenced the circuit’s design. That tells players a great deal about its intended rhythm. These are not categories that need a succession of second-gear hairpins to become interesting. They come alive when a circuit asks the driver to carry enormous speed through changes of direction, manage braking from very high velocity and trust aerodynamic or mechanical grip without the luxury of excessive track width.

Group C should provide a particularly dramatic contrast between immense straight-line performance and older aerodynamic, braking and tyre behaviour, while modern LMDh machinery approaches the same road with hybrid power delivery, sophisticated aero and contemporary braking systems. JP1 gives another interpretation of lightweight prototype performance. Putting those categories on the same fictional circuit creates a useful demonstration of why track design matters in simulation: identical corners become completely different problems depending on the amount of downforce, weight, power delivery and braking stability the car brings to them.

Slower machinery should not become irrelevant, however. A GT3 lap of approximately four minutes already suggests that the venue remains viable below prototype pace, while lower-powered cars can expose different aspects of the layout because less acceleration places greater emphasis on maintaining momentum. What changes is the intensity. In a prototype, Apex appears designed to overwhelm the driver with speed; in a slower car, it may become more about rhythm and preserving minimum corner velocity.

Version 2.2 makes the LMDh recommendation particularly timely

Apex Nova’s release on August 21 follows Project Motor Racing Version 2.2 on August 19, and the timing could hardly be better for anyone interested in the circuit’s stated LMDh focus. Straight4’s new update begins what the studio calls a full overhaul of the class, revising the internal combustion engine model, throttle response, engine braking, interaction between the ICE and front motor-generator unit, Balance of Performance power limitation and hybrid deployment. Brake-by-wire has also been reworked so that brake balance can respond dynamically as regenerative braking, vehicle speed and aerodynamic load change. Regeneration now reacts to speed and lateral G instead of operating independently of what the car is doing through a corner.

The class also receives the first iteration of a new three-compound tyre system, increased aerodynamic pitch sensitivity, modelling of the 4:1 aero-efficiency limitation, low-ride-height stalling and revised effects from vertical fins under yaw. Centre of gravity, inertia, suspension geometry and setup limits have been revised as well. Straight4 stresses that this is only Phase One and that car-specific aero, chassis and suspension development is still planned.

A circuit like Apex should expose those changes more clearly than a stop-start venue. Sustained high speed amplifies aerodynamic sensitivity, long braking events highlight the relationship between regeneration and friction braking, and rapid direction changes expose whether a prototype remains predictable while heavily loaded. Trlica did not build Apex specifically as an official LMDh physics laboratory, but its design makes it an obvious place for players to examine Version 2.2’s changes.

The absence of runoff changes the setup conversation

Apex’s narrow layout also has consequences beyond learning the racing line. On a forgiving circuit, a setup that is extremely fast but nervous can still be manageable because small moments of instability do not always end the lap. On Apex, the same setup may become exhausting if every rear-end movement threatens to put the car beyond the road.

That should make predictability unusually valuable. Drivers may find themselves preferring a slightly safer balance if it allows them to repeatedly place the car within a narrow corridor at high speed. Stable braking becomes more important when the outside of a corner offers little recovery space, and aerodynamic confidence matters when lifting unexpectedly can itself change vehicle balance. For LMDh cars under Version 2.2, Straight4 specifically recommends beginning again from the new default setups or recently updated ModHub configurations because older setups may behave differently after the physics overhaul.

This is where Apex can become more than another destination for hotlapping. Four layouts make it possible to isolate shorter portions while tuning, and the Full course can then test whether the resulting setup remains trustworthy across a much broader collection of corner types. A configuration that feels excellent over five kilometres may reveal compromises once another six and a half kilometres are added.

Apex Nova demonstrates why cross-platform ModHub support matters

Project Motor Racing launched in November 2025 with one of its most unusual promises: full mod support across PC and consoles. GIANTS Software described the implementation as a first for a sim-racing title of this kind, with the GIANTS Engine and integrated ModHub allowing community-made content to be distributed on PC, PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S rather than leaving the modding ecosystem almost entirely on PC.

Apex Nova is exactly the sort of release that makes that infrastructure meaningful. Its ModHub listing explicitly supports PC, PS5 and Xbox Series platforms, so a console player can access the same new fictional venue rather than watching PC users gradually build a separate track library. Project Motor Racing’s manual also allows Custom Lobby hosts to specify the mods required to enter a server, with cross-play available in those lobbies. That creates the foundation for community races and leagues built around modded content provided everyone installs the required package.

The integrated approach removes one of the historical barriers between console and PC sim racers. Installing a third-party circuit traditionally requires downloading archives from external sites, placing files in the correct directories and hoping each participant has an identical version. ModHub centralizes that process and gives each release explicit version, author, platform and file information. Apex appears as Version 1.0.0.0 under creator TomasT, meaning updates can be tracked through the same ecosystem rather than circulated informally.

Highrock and Apex are becoming proof-of-concept tracks for the wider modding ecosystem

Highrock was already described by its creator as a technical showcase demonstrating what could be accomplished inside ModHub with creative freedom and professional tools. Apex pushes that demonstration further. The file size increases from Highrock’s roughly 466.6 MB to Apex’s 769.3 MB, while the design grows from a compact mountainous venue into a four-layout complex with a Full configuration exceeding eleven kilometres.

Straight4 has been reinforcing the same idea from the official side. In July the studio released the PMR Test Centre through ModHub, converting an internal development facility into a six-layout free track with racing routes, high-speed loops, skidpad-style areas and an open playground. More importantly for creators, Straight4 said the circuit was also intended as a modding resource and announced plans for a “How to Build a Track” guide with sample files that could be used to reproduce or modify parts of the facility.

Apex therefore arrives in an ecosystem where the developer is actively trying to turn community content into part of the normal game rather than treating it as an unsupported aftermarket. The current ModHub already contains vehicles, tracks, liveries, career events and setups from both Straight4 and community creators, with Apex appearing at the top of the latest releases after its August 21 debut.

A fictional circuit gives its creator freedoms a licensed venue never could

Real-world laser-scanned circuits have obvious value in a simulator built around authenticity, but fictional tracks solve a different problem: they can be designed entirely around what feels good to drive.

There is no real property boundary forcing Apex to place a corner in an awkward position. No modern safety revision requires additional asphalt runoff. No historic layout must be preserved because that is what exists outside the game. Trlica can decide that a sector should remain narrow simply because the pressure improves the lap, extend another section until a prototype reaches the desired speed or connect additional sectors when the original Long configuration no longer feels large enough.

That freedom is visible in Apex’s development history. The Long layout was originally supposed to be the entire circuit; additional sectors were later created and connected until the venue supported four configurations. The result is therefore not pretending to be a real championship facility. It is a fictional racing venue designed specifically around a driving sensation, with the Nordschleife supplying inspiration for the level of commitment rather than a blueprint that has to be reproduced.

The distinction matters because sim racing benefits from both approaches. Scanned real tracks answer the question of how accurately software can reproduce motorsport. A fictional track like Apex asks what designers can build when the simulation itself is the only constraint.

The circuit is designed to punish mistakes, but that could also make racing complicated

Apex Nova’s characteristics sound ideal for hotlapping, but multiplayer racing introduces another variable: other drivers. A narrow circuit with minimal runoff means an individual mistake can quickly become a multi-car incident, particularly with LMDh or Group C machinery closing at high speed. Passing opportunities will therefore depend not only on raw pace but on whether the circuit provides enough braking zones and line variation to let drivers race without every move becoming an all-or-nothing commitment.

Highrock was explicitly optimized around door-to-door competition with up to 20 cars. Apex’s official description places much more emphasis on danger, speed and the feeling that the circuit is trying to catch the driver. That suggests its strongest identity may be less about conventional modern wheel-to-wheel accessibility and more about managing traffic on a road that refuses to accommodate mistakes.

That can produce excellent endurance-style racing if drivers respect the circuit. Faster classes approaching slower traffic have to plan passes instead of simply moving several car widths off line, while battles between evenly matched cars can become exercises in pressure where the following driver waits for the leader to make the tiny error Apex is designed to punish. The same design can become chaotic in inexperienced public lobbies, but that is arguably consistent with the track’s purpose.

The Full layout should reward memory almost as much as outright speed

An 11.6 km lap creates a different learning curve from a conventional three- or four-kilometre circuit. Even if the GT3 lap time is only around four minutes, there is still substantially more information for the driver to retain: braking references, blind entries, corner sequences, elevation changes, surface cues and which sections can be taken flat as confidence grows.

The Nordschleife influence is particularly visible here. Much of the challenge at very long circuits comes from building a mental map strong enough that the driver stops reacting to corners individually and begins anticipating complete sequences. The faster the car, the earlier that knowledge needs to arrive. At prototype speed, discovering what follows a blind crest only after reaching it is already too late.

The four layouts can therefore function almost like stages of familiarity. Short provides a more manageable introduction, Medium adds another layer, Long represents the original circuit concept and Full demands knowledge of the complete venue. Drivers chasing lap times should eventually reach the point where the 11.6 km distance feels like one connected rhythm rather than dozens of separate corners. That is when a circuit designed to punish hesitation usually becomes most rewarding.

The creator also discloses where generative AI was used

One unusually specific note on the official ModHub page states that AI was used to design fictional advertising banners and some of the graffiti appearing around Apex Nova. The disclosure is limited to those environmental graphic elements; the ModHub description does not state that AI generated the circuit layout, physics, road geometry or broader track construction.

That distinction is worth preserving because “AI was used” can otherwise become vague enough to imply far more than the creator actually says. In this case Trlica has identified the particular visual assets involved and placed the information directly alongside the track description. Whatever players think about generative tools in community content, the disclosure makes the production choice transparent instead of leaving it to speculation based on background artwork.

Apex Nova arrives while Project Motor Racing is rebuilding itself aggressively

The importance of ModHub content also has to be understood within Project Motor Racing’s broader 2026 trajectory. The game launched in November 2025 to a mixed reception, particularly around technical and handling issues, and Straight4 subsequently spent months revising core systems. Xbox’s official March coverage of Update 2.0 openly acknowledged that launch had not met expectations and described the update as a reset of the simulation’s foundations, including UI, physics, online racing and Career progression.

Development has continued rapidly since then. Update 2.1 rebuilt GT3 and GT4 handling in late July, while Version 2.2 moved the same broader physics programme toward LMDh in August. VR and Triple Screen support also advanced from experimental command-line Alpha implementations into Beta options accessible directly through the PC settings menu with Version 2.2.

Apex Nova consequently lands in a simulator whose underlying driving model is still evolving substantially. That can create extra work for setup builders and modders, but it also means a new track can benefit immediately from improvements to some of the exact vehicle classes its creator recommends. The combination of developer physics work and community content is beginning to make ModHub part of Project Motor Racing’s recovery rather than a peripheral launch feature.

Apex Nova may be one of the clearest arguments yet for Project Motor Racing’s ModHub

A fictional circuit does not need a motorsport license, a scanned real-world venue or a paid expansion slot to become valuable. It needs to offer drivers a reason to learn another racing line. Apex Nova appears built around a clear answer: speed without forgiveness.

Tomas Trlica took the response to Highrock and expanded the concept dramatically. Apex is longer, faster and structured around a different type of pressure, with virtually no runoff and an explicit Nordschleife influence. Four configurations give the package enough flexibility to support short sessions, setup work and longer races, while the Full layout stretches to 11.6 kilometres without becoming a slow endurance loop. JP1, LMDh and Group C are the creator’s intended headline machinery, although every Project Motor Racing car can use the circuit.

Its broader significance is equally important. Highrock demonstrated that a developer-team member could use the same ModHub ecosystem to create a popular fictional community track outside the formal DLC roadmap. Apex Nova now shows what happens when that experiment becomes more ambitious, while Straight4’s own PMR Test Centre and growing collection of community vehicles, liveries, events and setups continue to fill the same integrated platform.

Apex Nova, The Racing Venue is available now through Project Motor Racing’s ModHub on PC, PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S. Version 1.0 includes the 5 km Short, 7 km Medium, 8.5 km Long and 11.6 km Full configurations in a 769.33 MB package. For drivers who thought Highrock needed to be four times longer, substantially faster and far less interested in providing somewhere safe to make a mistake, Tomas Trlica has apparently taken the request very seriously.

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