The ‘Gran Turismo World Series’ returns to Tokyo for the first time since 2019 on Saturday, 28 September 2024 as the hotly-contested series approaches its December World Finals.

The season began in North America, with Round 1 taking place in Montreal, Canada on 6 July. The experienced Igor Fraga from Brazil took the honours in the Manufacturers Cup for Team Lexus before another series stalwart, Takuma Miyazono of Japan, secured an impressive win, and series lead, in the Nations Cup.

Round 2 of the series takes place in Europe. The stunning Czech capital, Prague, will host the 12 Manufacturers Cup team members and 12 Nations Cup drivers for more close racing on Saturday, 10 August.

Tokyo’s Asia-Oceania Round 3 will take place at the state-of-the-art THEATER MILANO-Za in the Kabukicho Tower in Shinjuku. With Tokyo the final round before December’s World Finals, the drivers will be aiming to take maximum World Series Points from the event and the competition will be fierce.

The Manufacturers Cup will start the action at 16:00 JST before the 12 Nations Cup take to the track at 19:00 local time.

The Manufacturers Cup showcases a variety of stunning cars in Gran Turismo. This is a team competition over the season, with the top 12 car makers from the online Qualifiers Series, including official partners Toyota, Genesis and Mazda, represented. In Tokyo, the 12 team members taking part will be aiming to build on the points tally secured by their team-mates at Rounds 1 and 2. The points will carry into the World Finals in December where all three drivers from each manufacturer will race as a team.

The 2023 World Finals saw the established order upset when Team Nissan emerged victorious at the end of a captivating race. A threat from the very start of the Gran Turismo World Series in 2018, Team Mercedes-AMG came home second with Team Genesis in third.

In Round 1 of the 2024 season, it was former champion Igor Fraga from Brazil who took the points for Team Lexus, interestingly in the Gran Turismo version of the car that he races for real in Japan’s Super GT series. Italian former Nations Cup Champion Valerio Gallo drove an excellent race for Team Honda to take second, just holding off Japan’s Takuma Sasaki in the Porsche.

A new format for the 2024 edition of the Nations Cup sees 12 drivers selected from the online Qualifiers Series who will take part in all three Gran Turismo World Series Rounds, plus the World Finals, with the points accumulating through the season.

Round 1 in Montreal saw 2020 Nations Cup Champion Takuma Miyazono hit top form with an excellent victory. The Nations Cup has been dominated in recent years by Spanish drivers with Jose Serrano and Coque López keeping themselves in title contention finishing second and third respectively.

Kylian Drumont from France started Round 1 in a strong position but made a mistake and will be looking to make amends in Round 2 and Round 3 in Tokyo. Japanese driver Takuma Sasaki will hope that home support will push him up the leaderboard from his fourth-place finish in Round 1.

Drivers from Italy, the Netherlands, USA, Brazil, and Chile will also be looking to make their mark in Tokyo and head into the World Finals with a good points haul.

To find out more about the Gran Turismo World Series visit the following link:
https://www.gran-turismo.com/world/gt7/events/gtws2024/.