Downtown Freeway Loop

Downtown Freeway Loop
Event	Circuit
Start	5 Fwy Underpass & Alameda St.
Start/Finish	L.A. Exhibition Hall (Easiest/Medium) Georgia St. & Madeline Ave. (Hard/Hardest)
Checkpoints	6 (Hard/Hardest) 12 (Easiest/Medium)
Laps	2 (Default)
Location	Downtown

Downtown Freeway Loop is a circuit race in Midnight Club: Los Angeles and is located in the Downtown Area.

Route

The race starts at the underpass of the Santa Ana Freeway (5 Freeway) at Alameda Street, regardless of the difficulty mode chosen. All the racers face east towards the L.A. River and are placed on a parking lot on the west side of Alameda, near some fencing. The route will take racers into the L.A. River and lead them North towards the West Ventura Freeway (101 Freeway). The racers will then race towards the South Pasadena Freeway (110 Freeway) exit and continue south, moving to the oncoming lane of N. 110 Fwy and then exiting to the Georgia Street & Wilshire Boulevard intersection. Racers will then continue towards Georgia St. and Madeline Ave, before turning left and going eastward towards Olympic Boulevard and North Figueroa Street.

Racers will usually either cut through the garage going southeast to the checkpoint or turn left onto Madeline Ave. then go right once finding a good opening into the garage. The route then continues east along Olympic until the South Figueroa Street/Flower Street intersection where it turns right to go south to the finish. At this checkpoint, racers usually tend to stick to the road. However, the player can use the Sports Center shortcut and the checkpoint will still detect them. Once reaching the start/finish line, racers will head towards the entrance of the L.A. River again. Typically, opponents will turn left and go east on East 16th Street until reaching Alameda Street, then turn right to go southeast towards the L.A. River. However, the player can drive past E. 16th St. and turn left onto the offroad part of the underpass and head straight for the checkpoint, saving time.

Extra Notes - L.A. River section

• In easiest/medium mode, when the pack is bunched up together, opponents will sometimes launch themselves off the river wall corners where kinks appear, both at the Pico Boulevard tunnel and near the 2nd Street bridge.
• When passing the 6th Street bridge, some opponents will choose to jump off the electricity pylon ramp just northeast of the bridge and sometimes have a successful landing. If the player opts to jump the ramp, speed and aerial control are vital for a successful landing.
• Under the 4th St. bridge, there are many different paths to choose from:
  • The inner left & right paths with ramps on either side of the pillar
  • The outer left and right paths that are valleys
  • The slanted walls of the L.A. River.

- Racers can choose either path and each can be quite effective. Using the river walls allows speed and control to be maintained the best.

• Under the 2nd St. bridge, there are even more paths to choose from:
  • The middle path that forks into two paths.
  • The ramps on either side of the middle path
  • The outer paths which are valleys
  • The L.A. River walls.

- Racers can choose either path and get ahead, however the river walls are typically not chosen as racers are exiting a turn. Usually, the middle path and the ramps are chosen, with some racers using the outside paths.

• There is a standalone trailer ramp that is northeast of the 2nd bridge, however racers usually avoid using this ramp as it will deviate them from course unnecessarily.

Alternate Routes

In the "Hard" and "Hardest" difficulties, there are 6 less checkpoints at 3 certain spots and the start/finish line is completely different compared to the "Easiest" and "Medium" difficulties. The Pico Blvd. tunnel checkpoint in the L.A. River is gone, but this does not affect the route in any significant way. The same goes for the N. 110 Fwy & 4th St. checkpoint on the N. 110 Freeway as racers will still be directed towards the on-ramp leading to Georgia St. & Wilshire Blvd. However, the major difference is the Georgia St. & Madeline Ave. intersection. The easiest/medium version marks this place as a regular checkpoint but the hard/hardest version uses this as the new start/finish line and removes all of the Olympic Boulevard checkpoints and the L.A. Exhibition Hall start/finish line. This provides racers an opportunity to take different routes to go back to the L.A. River.

The first option that racers take is the follow the regular path of the easiest/medium version, going along Olympic Blvd. then South Figueroa, E. 16th St. and then L.A. River. However, the second and most used option is to continue straight on the road ahead and follow the curvature of the walls going left until directly facing the L.A. River and then head straight towards it.

Goal Attack

Time Limit	Damage Limit	Position
02:48.00	25%	1st

Power-Up Locations

All power-ups in Arcade Mode are located near each checkpoint.

Checkpoints

Start Location

• 5 Fwy Underpass & Alameda St. @ West parking lot near fences

Start/Finish

• Los Angeles Exhibition Hall & Blue/Beige building- Easiest/Medium
  (near S. Figueroa St. & Main St./E. 16th St.)
• Georgia St. & Wilshire Blvd. - Hard/Hardest

Checkpoints

*Underlines denote checkpoints only in easiest/medium mode.

• Checkpoint 1 - 5 Fwy Underpass & Alameda St. (near on/off-ramps leading to LA River entrance)
• Checkpoint 2 - L.A. River @ Pico Blvd. Tunnel
• Checkpoint 2 / 3 - L.A. River kink (before 2nd St. bridge and near 2nd St. Alleyway into train tracks)
• Checkpoint 3 / 4 - L.A. River Split tunnels (near Temple St., tunnels lead to W. 101 Freeway)
• Checkpoint 4 / 5 - S. 110 Fwy on-ramp entrance
• Checkpoint 5 / 6 - S. 110 Fwy on-ramp exit
• Checkpoint 7 - N. 110 Fwy near 4th St. bridge
• Checkpoint 6 / 8 - N. 110 Fwy on-ramp exit (from Georgia St. & Wilshire Blvd.)
• Checkpoint 9 - Georgia St. & Wilshire Blvd.
• Checkpoint 10 - Georgia St. & Madeline Ave.
• Checkpoint 11 - Olympic Blvd. & N. Figueroa St.
• Checkpoint 12 - Olympic Blvd. & S. Figueroa St./Flower St.

Trivia

• This race is the second of three races in the Downtown Tournament