Update (February 22): After the new Grand Valley circuit briefly appeared on the calendar, it has been replaced in both opening rounds following some issues. These changes are reflected below.
Another short Exhibition Series for the Gran Turismo 7 Online Championship has been revealed, as players await the start of the official 2023 season.
Season 3 — with the Series itself still retaining the “2022/23 Exhibition Series” name — is similar to the two seasons that went before, but with four races instead of three in both Nations Cup and Manufacturers Cup.
There’s also a mid-season switchover, with the first two races in Manufacturers Cup taking place on Wednesdays before swapping to Saturdays for the final two races, and Nations Cup running the opposite way.
The full calendar is as follows:
2022/23 Exhibition Series Season 3 – Manufacturers Cup
- Round 1 – February 22 – Nurburgring GP/Gr.3 – 17 laps
- Round 2 – March 1 – Lago Maggiore West End/Gr.4 – 20 laps
- Round 3 – March 11 – Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps/Gr.3 – 24 laps
- Round 4 – March 18 – Dragon Trail Seaside/Gr.4 – 12 laps
2022/23 Exhibition Series Season 3 – Nations Cup
- Round 1 – February 25 – Autodrome Lago Maggiore East End/Citroen DS21 – 12 laps
- Round 2 – March 4 – Fuji Speedway/Nissan Z models – 7 laps
- Round 3 – March 8 – Fishermans Ranch/Gr.B – 5 laps
- Round 4 – March 15 – Sardegna Road Track A/Gr.2 – 20 laps
The first thing that will leap off the screen at you is the two unconfirmed rounds of the championships. In previous events we’ve seen this when new content is being delivered in a game update and it just so happens that a game update is due on February 21.
At present we only know that this will bring PSVR2 compatibility, but this new data makes it seem likely there’ll be content too; we’ll update the calendar when more information is available.
There’s another significant change though, particularly in the Manufacturers Cup, with a new “Partial” settings entitlement. In all three of the published Manufacturers races, players will be allowed to fit and adjust a Brake Balance Controller. That change alone will see different cars coming to the fore, particularly in the AWD-dominated Gr.4 category.
It’s not limited to the Manufacturers Cup either, with two of the three published Nations Cup races also giving some limited freedom in vehicle settings. You’ll be able to adjust downforce on the Gr.2 cars, and the center differential and brake balance on the Gr.Bs.
As before you’ll have ten chances to compete in each race (although only your last entered race of each round will count) and your best single score across the four races will be used to rank you. Update: Manufacturers R1 will not confer any ranking points.
There’s some slight changes to the slot timings, with different entry periods depending on which championship and which day of the week; a full list is below with all times stated in universal coordinated time:
Entry Slot Timings (UTC)
- Asia (Nations): 0000, 0100, 0200, 0300, 0400, 0700, 0800, 0900, 1000, 1100
- Oceania (Nations): 0100, 0200, 0300, 0400, 0500, 0600, 0700, 0800, 0900, 1000
- Asia-Oceania (Manufacturers): 0500, 0600, 0700, 0800, 0900, 1100, 1200, 1300, 1400, 1500
- Europe/Middle East/Africa (Saturday): 0800, 0900, 1000, 1100, 1200, 1400, 1500, 1600, 1700, 1800
- Europe/Middle East/Africa (Wednesday): 1000, 1100, 1200, 1300, 1400, 1700, 1800, 1900, 2000, 2100
- Central/South America (Saturday): 1400, 1500, 1600, 1700, 1800, 2100, 2200, 2300, 0000 (+1), 0100 (+1)
- Central/South America (Wednesday): 1500, 1600, 1700, 1800, 1900, 2200, 2300, 0000 (+1), 0100 (+1), 0200 (+1)
- Americas (Manufacturers, Saturday): 1500, 1600, 1700, 1800, 1900, 2200, 2300, 0000 (+1), 0100 (+1), 0200 (+1)
- Americas (Manufacturers, Wednesday): 1600, 1700, 1800, 1900, 2000, 2300, 0000 (+1), 0100 (+1), 0200 (+1), 0300 (+1)
- North America (Nations): 1600, 1700, 1800, 1900, 2000, 2300, 0000 (+1), 0100 (+1), 0200 (+1), 0300 (+1)
GT World Series operates on a bracket system. Players with a Driver Rating of A or better will be in the “GT1 League”, those with a DR of B in the “GT2 League”, and those of DR C or lower in the “GT3 League”.
Only the players in GT1 League will be eligible for the finals events, along with the coveted “S” Driver Rating rank, but you’ll score points and be ranked in every league. You will be locked into the League appropriate to your Driver Rating when you enter your first race in each championship, whether your rating changes or not.
The official 2023 season is yet to be announced, but we’re expecting it to start any time in the next couple of months, with an expanded roster of live events. That means that, although this is an Exhibition Series, the chances of invitations to live events based on the results of the Season are slightly higher — so it’s worth bearing in mind that something may well be at stake this time…
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