The final stop on the Gran Turismo World Series before the World Finals is now upon us, as the action moves to Polyphony Digital’s home territory in Tokyo.
It’s the third of the three preliminary rounds this season, each of which will be awarding points that carry into and through the World Final. With two events down it’s pretty tight, as three-quarters of drivers and teams now have a score on the board — and there’s not a lot between them all.
While the format for the Manufacturers Cup remains the same for 2024, with one driver from each region (EMEA, ASOC, and NCSA) representing each of the qualifying brands, the Nations Cup has reverted to its previous solo format. That means it’s pretty likely that Spain will be only champion team unless the idea is revisited in the future.
Each championship offers up to a maximum of six more points as usual, so Tokyo is a vital opportunity for those who are a little behind the curve to catch up — or the leaders to stamp their authority on the series. Here’s everything you need to know to keep up with it today:
Gran Turismo World Series 2024 R3 – Tokyo – Manufacturers Cup
The same 12 brands that contested the previous rounds return, but all now switch to their final drivers. That’s largely the Asia-Oceania racers, as each event has more-or-less been a regional final, but a couple of necessary substitutions in Montreal means that two Americas drivers will also be in the field.
It’s another ludicrously stacked field that shares seven GT World Series — and two Toyota GR GT Cup titles — between them, and three come from one man: Takuma Miyazono. Miyazono scored a one-season triple-crown in 2020, and returned in 2022 to bag Manufacturers in his trusty Subaru, which he’ll be driving again.
Tomoaki Yamanaka is another multiple Manufacturers Cup champion — in 2019 and 2021 — and returns in the Toyota squad for which he grabbed both titles. One of the first Manufacturers’ champions, Kanata Kawakami, comes back to his title-winning Lexus team, while one defending champion has switched from Nissan to Mazda as Ryota Kokubun aims to score unique back-to-back titles for different brands.
Each of the two rounds thus far has seen a different team claim victory, with Igor Fraga winning for Lexus in Montreal and Mohamed Budheima taking perhaps a surprise win for Ferrari. However the championship leader is Team Porsche, courtesy of being the only team to score two podiums with Benjamin Hencsei and Takuma Sasaki.
The race will be a 22-lap run at Mount Panorama in the Gr.3 cars, with all three types of tire required — and pit stop strategy likely to be key.
Gran Turismo World Series 2024 – Manufacturers Cup Standings
- Team Porsche – 9 points
- Team Lexus – 7 points
- Team Ferrari – 6 points
You’ll can able to tune into the stream from 0700 UTC on Saturday, September 28 (convert to your time here) and along with the usual additional language streams in French, German, Italian, Japanese, Portuguese, and Spanish, there’s a live-timing stream too.
Up until the final race starts you can select who you think will win the race, with 1,000,000cr on offer for getting it right. Watching any amount of the stream through your Gran Turismo 7 game will award you a Mazda 787B.
Competitors
Gran Turismo World Series 2024 R3 – Tokyo – Nations Cup
The 12 finalists of the Nations Cup will resume their season-long battle in Tokyo, with the line-up remaining the same from Montreal through to Amsterdam.
It’s quite the line-up too, with at least one champion from each of the previous four seasons racing for this year’s title. Among them is the only double-winner, Coque Lopez, who is currently leading the way and could grab an unprecedented three-in-a-row.
He’ll be joined by Jose Serrano, who raced alongside him on that championship-winning Spanish team, but the third man, Pol Urra, surprisingly didn’t qualify this year. 2021 and 2020 winners Valerio Gallo and Takuma Miyazono both earned their Nations Cup titles online and will be looking for a first in-person crown.
There’s a gaggle of other live and online event winners too, including the always entertaining Adriano Carrazza, 2022’s breakout star Kylian Drumont, and the ever-popular Angel Inostroza. 2024 could also be a first time for a winner from North America or Oceania, with Calen Roach, Robbie Heck, and Guy Barbara all at the sharp end at points of the previous events.
Local talent Takuma Sasaki is overdue an event win too, especially after the Porsche heroics at Interlagos back in the Montreal event, and we’re still waiting to see Kaj de Bruin’s elevation from time trial wunderkind and online points leader to GTWS race winner.
It’s going to be a busy schedule, as there’s a hot-lap qualifying session in the X2019 at Grand Valley Highway 1 — just like the current bonus Time Trial — to set the grid and car seeding for a ten-lap qualifying race at Tokyo Expressway’s high-speed East Clockwise course. The result of that will form the grid for the final race back in the X2019s at Grand Valley, running over 27 laps and requiring all three tire grades.
Gran Turismo World Series 2024 – Nations Cup Standings
- Coque Lopez (Spain) – 8 points
- Valerio Gallo (Italy) – 7 points
- Takuma Miyazono (Japan) – 6 points
The stream for the Nations Cup begins at 1000 UTC on Saturday, September 28 (convert to your time here), after a short break following the Manufacturers Cup podium celebrations. Live timing is also available, as well as streams in French, German, Italian, Japanese, Portuguese, and Spanish.
You’ll also be able to to select your choice of winner for this race, with the chance to earn 1,000,000cr again, and you can watch qualifying and the qualifying race before making your pick; if it helps any, every all-nations event in Japan or Australia has had a Japanese winner. Tuning in for even a moment through the special tile in Gran Turismo 7 will award you a Nissan GT-R GT500 ’08.
Competitors
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