Players have barely had time to process the results of the first ever GT World Series Test Season in Gran Turismo 7, but the second is fast approaching. The first races will get underway on March 31, with a few format changes and a more varied line-up.
The first test season was a very brief affair, rattling through four races in each of the two championships in just eight days. Test Season 2 will be slightly more normal in terms of length — nine races each — but no less frantic as there’s just 20 days between the first and last races.
Again, the name suggests there’s not a lot riding on this series, but we have previously seen World Series live event invites going to drivers who’ve performed well in pre-season events. That means that, although it’s pretty likely this is another test of GT7’s ability to take over from GT Sport when it comes to the esports side, you should still treat it as though it isn’t.
For those not yet familiar with the GT World Series, you’ll be racing against other drivers, representing yourself (Nations) or a specific car marque (Manufacturers).
In the Manufacturers Cup you will sign a contract with a brand which lasts through to the end of the current season. The manufacturer supplies you with a Gr.4 car and a Gr.3 car, so you don’t have to buy them in order to race.
Each race you take part in will see you gain points towards your ranking, depending on your finishing position and based on how difficult your opponents are — racing against A-rated drivers is more valuable than against D-rated drivers.
In each series you’ll be assigned to a “League” which depends on your Driver Rating at the time you enter the championship: GT1 if you are DR A or better, GT2 if you are DR B, and GT3 if you are DR C or below. Although your DR might rise or fall, you’ll remain in that League throughout, until the season ends.
You’ll have multiple chances to enter each race, but only your last finish counts — even if you fail to score or are disconnected. However your worst scores won’t be counted towards your total, with only three rounds counting in Manufacturers and seven of nine in Nations.
The full calendar for the event is as follows:
Nations Cup
- Round 1 – April 1 – Alsace Test Course II/DS 3, Peugeot 208 GTI, Renault Clio RS220 ’16 – 10 laps
- Round 2 – April 3 – Sardegna Road Track A/Gr.3 – 10 laps
- Round 3 – April 5 – Deep Forest/Road Car (≤493hp, ≥1400kg) – 8 laps
- Round 4 – April 7 – Dragon Trail Gardens/Volkswagen Scirocco R – 6 laps
- Round 5 – April 9 – Willow Springs Horse Thief/GT Racing Kart – 10 laps
- Round 6 – April 11 – Red Bull Ring/Gr.B – 8 laps
- Round 7 – April 15 – Daytona Road Course/Ford F150, Toyota Tundra – 5 laps
- Round 8 – April 17 – Suzuka Circuit/Gr.4 – 8 laps
- Round 9 – April 19 – Kyoto Yamagiwa/Lancer ’15, Impreza ’14, GR Yaris ’20 – 6 laps
Manufacturers Cup
- Round 1 – March 31 – Nurburgring 24h/Gr.3 – 3 laps
- Round 2 – April 2 – Kyoto Yamagiwa/Gr.4 – 15 laps
- Round 3 – April 4 – Interlagos/Gr.3 – 19 laps
- Round 4 – April 8 – High Speed Ring/Gr.4 – 18 laps
- Round 5 – April 10 – Tokyo Expressway East Clockwise/Gr.3 – 12 laps
- Round 6 – April 12 – Fuji Speedway/Gr.4 – 15 laps
- Round 7 – April 14 – Monza/Gr.3 – 16 laps
- Round 8 – April 16 – Lago Maggiore West End/Gr.4 – 20 laps
- Round 9 – April 18 – Daytona Road Course/Gr.3 – 16 laps
Although only eight races are showing in-game for the Manufacturers Cup, the game’s website does show the full set of nine — though at present it doesn’t reveal any information about tires in either location.
We can say that every race bar the N24 round of the Manufacturers Cup will feature a ten-minute qualifying window, with 13 minutes allocated to that particular race to account for the rather long lap.
Naturally for Manufacturers Cup, BOP is switched on and you cannot adjust vehicle settings. That includes brake balance, which in GT7 is classed as a tuning part and might affect your choice of brand depending on their Gr.4 cars.
In Nations however there’s four rounds which feature full vehicle tuning; only Rounds 4, 5, and 6 (Scirocco, Racing Kart, Gr.B) have locked settings. BOP is in play for Rounds 2 and 8 (Gr.3 and Gr.4 cars), thus settings are also locked, while Rounds 1, 3, 7, and 9 only have a specific upper limit for engine power and lower limit for vehicle weight to adhere to.
There’s a couple of themed races too. Round 1 pits the Menu Book 11 French hot hatches against one another, with Round 9 doing the same with Menu Book 19 Japanese “Rally Base Cars”. Round 7 is a full-on battle of pick-up trucks, while Round 3 is the most intriguing as it features no vehicle limitations at all besides “road cars”.
The timings for each race also seem to be in an experimental stage, with R1-3, R4-6, and R7-9 all taking place over different windows. Although that looks complicated, R1-3 will be an hour before R4-6, and R7-9 an hour after it.
For simplicity, we’ve listed the Rounds 4-6 times below, set to Universal Coordinated Time. Just add an hour for the last three rounds, and take an hour off for the first three:
- Oceania: 0800, 0900, 1000, 1100, 1200
- Asia: 1000, 1100, 1200, 1300, 1400
- Europe, Middle East, Africa: 1600, 1700, 1800, 1900, 2000
- Latin America: 2200, 2300, 0000 (+1), 0100 (+1), 0200 (+1)
- North America: 2200, 2300, 0000 (+1), 0100 (+1), 0200 (+1)
Once again, the series features no FIA branding at all, though the FIA does still appear in the game within Brand Central.
Motorsport’s official governing body officially certified the championship from 2017 to 2021, recognizing the champions by awarding them a trophy at the annual Prize Giving event. We’ve not seen the FIA in association with the championship since the 2021 final, and the last three test and exhibition seasons have not included the name at all.
It remains to be seen how this will affect the 2022 season — in particular the prizes that will be on offer — but we’ll bring you more information when it’s available.
See more articles on Gran Turismo World Series.
