2024’s Gran Turismo World Series Finals gets underway at 1500 UTC today with the Toyota Gazoo Racing GT Cup.
Toyota has been running this championship alongside the main GT World Series events since 2019, and it has almost exclusively been a predictor of success for the championships which follow.
Of the five previous winners, four went on to claim either or both of the Manufacturers Cup and Nations Cup — with the exception being Igor Fraga who added it to his previous titles to claim a Triple Crown.
Thus far no driver has won the Toyota series twice, and that’s a sequence that could be broken in 2024. However, only one previous winner is returning for this year’s event, and that’s the reigning champion Pol Urra.
Urra was a sensation in 2023, and it’s been a surprise to see him not qualify for the Nations Cup (while both of his Team Spain title-winning teammates have). He only qualified as the sixth-best driver out of nine finalists in the EMEA region too.
Nonetheless, he’ll go into the event as a favorite but if he wants to grab that first second title there’s plenty of obstacles. Regional top-qualifier and co-champion of the Nations Cup Jose Serrano is probably the biggest of those, but then so is the third Spanish 2023 champion Coque Lopez despite a lowly eighth place in the season.
There’s several other big names here too, including second-ranked Baptiste Beauvois — long overdue a title of some kind after more seconds than we care to count — and 2023 Manufacturers Cup champion Ryota Kokubun.
We’d also be looking towards World Tour round winners Lucas Bonelli and Adriano Carrazza, and Takuma Sasaki who has been showing some strong form over the past couple of seasons. There’s also the question of the latest wunderkind, as 14-year old Koki Ishino has qualified for the finals; if not this year, he’s one to watch over the next few seasons until he’s eligible for the World Series.
Along with the 21 online qualifiers, three drivers came through a special regional event in Asia — and they’re not to be taken for granted either.
Andika Rama Maulana is an extremely accomplished driver in the Assetto Corsa Competizione-based GT World Challenge and returns for his third straight Toyota event, Taj Aiman has been a regional heavyweight for several years, and while Karl Etyemezian is a substitute for the competition’s winner Mohamed Hadi due to visa issues he’s also an Olympic finalist and raced in the 2023 finals.
It’s going to be a high-speed affair, with the drivers split into A and B groups for qualifying and a semi-final race each, both using the Toyota-engined Super Formula SF23. This year there’s no repechage event, so it’s the top six in each race qualifying for the winner-takes-all final in the Toyota GR010 at the Le Mans circuit.
Races
- Qualifying – Super Formula Dallara SF23 Toyota, Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta
- Semi-Final A – Super Formula Dallara SF23 Toyota, Autodromo de Interlagos (12 laps)
- Semi-Final B – Super Formula Dallara SF23 Toyota, Red Bull Ring (12 laps)
- Grand Final – Toyota GR010 Hybrid, 24 Heures du Mans Racing Circuit (8 laps)
Viewers have two ways to get involved in the event beyond just watching. If you head into GT7 you’ll find that you can watch the stream through the game, and doing so any time before it’s removed at 0859 UTC on Monday December 16 will earn you a Six-Star Roulette Ticket.
You don’t need to watch much, if you prefer other platforms (or don’t want your console on for that long). Clicking on the “Watch Stream (Entry Available)” button will change it to “Watch Stream (Entry Submitted)”, which confirms your entry.
There’s also the “Predict the Winner” event which will award you 1,000,000cr for your game wallet if you can — you guessed it — predict the winner. This is also available through the special section on the GT7 World Map, and you can make your pick any time before the grand final starts. That allows you to get an idea of form before taking the plunge.
The racing gets underway today, Saturday December 7, at 1500 UTC (convert to your time here) and we wish all of the competitors the best of luck!
Additional Streams
- French language stream
- German language stream
- Italian language stream
- Japanese language stream
- Portuguese language stream
- Spanish language stream
- Live Timing
Competitors
See more articles on Gazoo Racing GT Cup, Gran Turismo World Series, and Toyota.
