The latest Gran Turismo 7 Online Time Trial is now available, setting players a road car hotlap challenge of arguably the biggest motorsport venue in Spain.
That is, of course, the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya, which not only hosts a round of the Formula One World Championship but has also been a regular venue for F1 testing — which still includes the Testing of Previous Car (TPC) program.
You’ll be driving something a little slower this week, though it could easily be a part of the Pirelli Hot Laps VIP event that accompanies the F1 circus, in the shape of the Mercedes-AMG GT R.
The GT was the second unique vehicle — not based on a Mercedes equivalent — created by AMG since it became a part of Mercedes-Benz in 2005, but also the first under the “Mercedes-AMG” branding. Although similar in size to the Mercedes SL, the GT wasn’t directly related.
Aside from the GT3 race car based on it, all models of the GT use the same four-liter, twin-turbo V8, and in the GT R variant it was tuned to its highest output until the cross-plane crank version in the Black Series appeared in 2020. At 577hp it was good for almost 200mph.
You’ll be required to use Sports Medium tires to harness this power for the lap around the “No Chicane” variant of the course — missing out only the final RACC chicane, with turn 13 becoming a fast right — which is likely to result in a slippery lap.
At the moment the world record for this event has just broken into the 1:49.9s, which would require a lap time of 1:53.2 in order to get the gold time. There’s not much chance that this will remain the case, so you’re probably going to want to get at least into the 1:52s in order to walk away with the 2m credits for doing so.
Last week’s Le Mans time trial remains in place too, with another week to run. The current world record there is a 3:35.5 — which is also the only time in the 3:35s — meaning that you’ll now need to break into the 3:41s if you want gold. Given the margin that the top time has over the rest, further improvements are less likely but not impossible.
In order to access the Online Time Trials, you’ll need to unlock Sport Mode, by completing Menu Book 9 (“Championship: Tokyo Highway Parade”) in the GT Cafe single player hub. As it’s just you against the clock and not a direct, head-to-head multiplayer event, PlayStation Plus is not required.
You’ll usually need to be within 3% of the fastest time globally once the event finishes in order to secure “gold” status and a 2m credit bonus prize. There’s smaller prizes of one million for being within 5%, and 250,000cr for bronze at 10% off.
The events update every Thursday, with each individual challenge remaining available for two weeks and the oldest of the two events being replaced each week. You can look forward to the next new Time Trial arriving at 0700 UTC on Thursday June 20.
Gran Turismo 7 Lap Time Challenge June 13 – Barcelona-Catalunya
- Track: Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya – No Chicane
- Car: Mercedes-AMG GT R ’17 – Garage/Rental Car
- Power/Weight/PP Limit: BOP (M)
- Tires: Sports Medium
- Settings: Fixed
Gran Turismo 7 Lap Time Challenge June 6 – 24 Heures du Mans
- Track: 24 Heures du Mans Circuit
- Car: BMW McLaren F1 GTR ’97 – Garage/Rental Car
- Power/Weight/PP Limit: BOP (H)
- Tires: Racing Medium
- Settings: Fixed
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