The Gran Turismo Sport Daily Races continue on their weekly rotation, with a new set now available for the next seven days. There’s a chance to drive a car rarely seen in Sport Mode, along with more routine races to get to grips with this week.
It’s Race A that puts you into a car you’d be forgiven for not even remembering was in GT Sport. Hyundai’s Genesis Coupe does occasionally appear in Gr.4 and Gr.3 forms in FIA Gran Turismo Online Championship events — and finals — but the road car is largely anonymous in the game.
The Genesis Coupe was part of a sub-brand within Hyundai that saw the Korean manufacturer produce slightly more upmarket cars before launching the Genesis brand as a standalone marque in 2015. That means that the 2013 car you’ll drive this week is in fact the genesis of Genesis, and the brand looks set to come to Gran Turismo 7 in 2022.
As for the race, you’ll be taking on 11 other Genesises (Geneses?) at the tiny Kyoto Driving Park Miyabi course. This circuit only has one real braking zone, though with the 3.8-liter V6 Genesis being more than capable of picking up the pace, there’s a couple of spots on each of the eight laps where — especially on Sports Hard tires — you might need to lift or give a quick confidence dab on the brakes.
Races B and C are standard Sport Mode fare, placing you into the road-based Gr.4 race cars and the more heavily reworked Gr.3 machines.
Unusually, it’s the faster cars in the shorter sprint race this week, as the Gr.3 category contests a five-lap battle at the Big Willow course at Willow Springs.
It’s a love-or-hate circuit, with fast flowing corners that lead into endless swathes of Mojave Desert if you get it wrong. You have free choice of any car from the Gr.3 class, so don’t hesitate to mix it up if your usual vehicle of choice isn’t working.
The Gr.4 cars are up in Race C this week, which takes you to Brands Hatch and the full Grand Prix circuit. It’s a 13-lap race with Racing Medium as the only tire option available, but there is still a twist.
While it’s not mandatory to swap tire compounds as usual, the race still requires all drivers to head down the pitlane at least once on any racing lap; pitting on the final lap or, if you’re far enough back, before you reach the start line for the first time won’t count. You don’t need to take on tires or fuel, just make a pit stop.
Failure to do so will see your time garnished with a one-minute penalty, and unlike in the real world, race control will not change its mind on that.
Although tire wear races usually play against the standard choice of a front-wheel drive Gr.4 car, this mandatory stop might allow them to be up at the front of the field again by allowing them to sacrifice only a couple of seconds to change tires — the 6x tire wear multiplier will make the race feel like 78 laps for your rubber — rather than a full 20+ of an additional pit stop.
The three races will run through to Monday December 20, when another set will replace them.
Race A
- Track: Kyoto Driving Park – Miyabi, 8 laps
- Car: Hyundai Genesis Coupe ’13 – Provided Car
- Tires: Sports Hard
- Start Type: Grid Start
- Fuel use: Off
- Tire use: Off
Race B
- Track: Willow Springs – Big Willow, 5 laps
- Car: Gr.3 – Garage Car
- Tires: Racing Medium
- Start Type: Rolling Start
- Fuel use: Off
- Tire use: Off
Race C
- Track: Brands Hatch Grand Prix Circuit, 13 laps
- Car: Gr.4 – Garage Car
- Tires: Racing Medium
- Start Type: Rolling Start
- Fuel use: 2x
- Tire use: 6x
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