The overview of the Manufacturer Series Championship was released on 25 April.
For the 2019 Series, the player selection criteria for World Tour live events attendance is based on the Global Manufacturer Ranking as last year. However, the way the Global Manufacturer Ranking is created and the selection criteria for the World Tours and World Finals live events have changed.
■ Global Manufacturer Rankings Creation
For the Manufacturer Series, the Global Manufacturer Ranking will be calculated at the end of the Online Series following the below process (mid-Series reports will also be published at the end of each Stage.)
1) Manufacturer Rankings by Region
・ At the end of each Round, the position of a manufacturer in the 'Manufacturer Ranking' will be determined by the points acquired by its affiliated top driver (the driver who holds the highest-score for that manufacturer in that Round).
・At the end of each Round, 'Manufacturer Ranking Points' will be assigned to each of the 25 manufacturers based on their position in the above-mentioned 'Manufacturer Ranking'.
2) Global Manufacturer Ranking
・The 'Manufacturer Ranking Points' from all 5 Regions are totalled to determine the position of a manufacturer in the 'Global Manufacturer Ranking'.
(If two or more manufacturers have an equal number of points in the 'Global Manufacturer Ranking', the selection will be determined following these criteria:
a) the manufacturers with the highest points per Region;
b) the manufacturer with the highest number of affiliation contracts registered at the end of the 2019 Series.
The 'Manufacturer Rankings' are not based on an effective point system, but are based on the total number of points from all Rounds.
■ World Tours
・A total of 12 manufacturers will be selected to participate in a World Tour: in addition to the Official Partner Manufacturers, the highest ranked manufacturers in the 'Global Manufacturer Ranking' will also be selected.
Currently for the 2019 Series, Toyota is an Official Partner (other Official Partners may be added during the Series.)
■ Competitors Selection Criteria
・Each of the 12 manufacturers will select their representative drivers following these criteria:
1) The 3 Regions with the highest Manufacturer Ranking Points will be selected;
2) The top players from those 3 Regions are selected as that manufacturer's representatives.
(Note: unlike the Nations Cup, the number of World Tour victories will not be part of the selection criteria.)
If two or more Regions have an equal number of points, the Region with the highest number of players affiliated to that manufacturer will have priority.
If there are players who forfeit their participation, the next player will be selected following this order of priority:
a) the top player from the Region with the next highest Manufacturer Ranking Points;
b) the player who held the next highest-score from the same Region as the player who forfeited their participation.
Example: If the 'Manufacturer Ranking' Regions order for Toyota was Asia (1st), Europe/Middle East/Africa (2nd), North America (3rd), Oceania (4th), and Central & South America (5th), the top players in Asia, Europe/Middle East/Africa and North America would be the first candidates, but if the North American player forfeits, the top player from the Oceania Region will be the next candidate.
■ World Finals
・A total of 12 manufacturers will be selected to participate in the World Finals: in addition to the Official Partner Manufacturers, the highest ranked manufacturers in the 'Global Manufacturer Ranking' will also be selected.
For more information on the Manufacturer Points and World Tours' Selection Events, please check the 'FIA Certified Gran Turismo Championships 2019 Series Overview' on the official gran-turismo.com website.