Story 5: the Fan’s Guide to the Gran Turismo World Series World Finals
Countdown to the Gran Turismo World Series World Finals
The moment we’ve all been waiting for is here! It’s the grand climax of the Gran Turismo World Series, the World Finals. Mark your calendars for 1-3 December, as the stage is set in none other than the captivating and storied city of Barcelona, Spain, home to the 1992 Summer Olympic Games and the architectural marvels of Antoni Gaudi, not to mention FC Barcelona, one of the most famous football clubs in the world. This year’s event promises to be a celebration of speed, skill, and pure excitement, set against a backdrop of culture and sporting legends!
Race weekend will consist of a number of thrilling events, all taking place at Fira Barcelona Montjuïc, including a demonstration race, the TOYOTA GAZOO Racing GT Cup (the only individual driver’s event), the Manufacturers Cup, and Nations Cup. But that’s not all! We’ll be celebrating the 10th anniversary of Vision Gran Turismo in the Gran Turismo Garage, and an interactive space called the GT Café will allow you to show off your own GT driving skills, as well as experience the game with PlayStation®VR2.
Those who are in it for just the racing, you won’t be disappointed because this has the potential to be the most competitive GT race weekend ever!
Starting things off is the TGR GT Cup on Friday, 1 December at 7:00pm local time. The TGR GT Cup will see the players power through Qualifying, followed by a Semi-final round, and finally the Grand Final. The top four contenders in the Semi-finals get an automatic bid to the Grand Final, but wait, those in 5th to 10th place get another shot. They'll battle it out in an all-or-nothing repechage, where the top four finishers secure a golden ticket to the Grand Final. Being the only individual competition of the weekend, the stakes are super high as veteran drivers like Coque López and Takuma Miyazono look to mix it up with newcomers hungry to elevate their name in the GT world.
On Saturday, 2 December, the Manufacturers Cup takes centre stage. 12 car manufacturers, including official partners Toyota, Genesis, and Mazda, battle for supremacy in this team competition, the only one that will feature cars of different makes on the track together.
The weekend crescendos with the Nations Cup on 3 December, the grand finale where drivers aren’t just chasing personal glory, they’re donning their race suits for the honour of their homelands! Each team will consist of three drivers. The lead driver will engage in Qualifying. Then comes Race 1 to Race 3, where individual drivers will go head-to-head, with one contender representing each country. A crucial twist is that teams must assign a different driver for each of these three races. The Grand Final will be a team event where all three drivers will take the wheel in a dynamic relay. It’s the ultimate clash of national pride, where the race track becomes a battleground, and the players compete for something greater than themselves.
Every race category—be it the TGR GT Cup, Manufacturers Cup, or the Nations Cup—is guaranteed to be filled with twists and turns, drama and heartbreak, in a no-holds-barred, winner-takes-all showdown that you absolutely can’t afford to miss!