The Race of Champions 2024 exhibition race returns again this year with all the champions of past and present, premiering at Midnight (JST) on 1 January 2025!
The Race of Champions 2024, an exhibition race with all the title holders from the Gran Turismo World Series and TOYOTA GAZOO Racing GT Cup took place on Friday, 20 December at the Tokyo Studio of Polyphony Digital.
Starting from last year, those who became champions of the Gran Turismo World Series have been invited to the Tokyo Studio of Polyphony Digital at the end of the year, where they would partake in a celebration and cake ceremony with the Gran Turismo production staff, other guests, and all the series winners from throughout the years.
The Race of Champions is a special exhibition race with all the top competitors who gathered for this private celebration event.
Scenes from this Race of Champions 2024 can be seen in a premier release with commentary on the GRAN TURISMO TV official YouTube channel and on Gran Turismo LIVE, starting from midnight Japan Standard Time (JST) on January 1, 2025.
■ Premiere Broadcast Links
31 December 2024 (Tue) 15:00 UTC Premier Release
Gran Turismo Live:
https://www.gran-turismo.com/world/live/00_5513240
GRAN TURISMO TV:
https://youtu.be/cQ4PFrtzcqw
The Race of Champions is on its 2nd year this year, joined by Japan's Takuma Miyazono who achieved his second championship series win, 4 yours since his first series victory. Team Lexas who are enjoying their 2nd championship victory since 2018 (With team members Igor Fraga, Kanata Kawakami, and Hararld Walsen) are also in the mix.
In addition, Spain's Jose Serrano who became champion of the TOYOTA GAZOO Racing GT Cup this year also partook in the race, along with other personal title holders from throughout the years that truely created an incredible lineup of drivers on the grid.
The stage of the race was a familiar scene from the Nations Cup of the Gran Turismo World Series 2024 Round 3 - Tokyo, a sprint race on the Tokyo Expressway East Outer Loop where we saw some incredible action. Competitors take on the race with production sports cars tuned to 1000hp!
Slip streams allow overtaking on the home straight, and cars approach the first corner at speeds exceeding 400km/h. Walls close in on the drivers at every turn, and of course you won't want to miss the incredible action of this race.
And at the end of the program is an ending that wraps up the Gran Turismo World Series 2024.
Enjoy the incredible matchup of all the champion drivers from throughout the years!
■ Driver Lineup
| Country | Driver | Achievements |
|---|---|---|
| Brazil | Igor Fraga | ・World Series 2024 - Manufacturers Cup Champion (Team Lexus) ・TOYOTA GAZOO Racing GT Cup 2022 Champion ・Manufacturers Series 2021 Champion (Team Toyota) ・Manufacturer Series 2019 Champion (Team Toyota) ・Nations Cup 2018 Champion (Brazil) |
| Italy | Valerio Gallo | ・Nations Cup 2021 Champion (Italy) ・Olympic Virtual Series Motor Sport Event Winner |
| Japan | Kanata Kawakami | ・World Series 2024 - Manufacturers Cup Champion (Team Lexus) ・Manufacturer Series 2018 Champion (Team Lexus) |
| France | Kylian Drumont | ・World Series 2022 - Manufacturers Cup Champion (Subaru) ・Olympic Esports Series Motor Sport Finals Winner |
| Japan | Ryota Kokubun | ・World Series 2023 - Manufacturers Cup Champion (Team Nissan) |
| Spain | Coque López | ・World Series 2024 - Manufacturers Cup Champion (Team Lexus) ・World Series 2023 - Nations Cup Champion (Spain) ・World Series 2022 - Nations Cup Champion (Spain) ・Manufacturers Series 2021 Champion (Team Toyota) |
| Chile | Harald Walsen | ・World Series 2024 - Manufacturers Cup Champion (Team Lexus) |
| Spain | José Serrano | ・TOYOTA GAZOO Racing GT Cup 2024 Champion ・World Series 2023 - Nations Cup Champion (Spain) |
| Spain | Pol Urra | ・TOYOTA GAZOO Racing GT Cup 2023 Champion ・World Series 2023 - Nations Cup Champion (Spain) |
| Turkey | Mikail Hizal | ・Manufacturer Series 2020 Champion (Team Subaru) ・Nations Cup 2019 Champion (Germany) ・GR Supra GT Cup 2019 Champion |
| Japan | Takuma Miyazono | ・World Series 2024 - Nations Cup Champion (Japan) ・World Series 2022 - Manufacturers Cup Champion (Team Subaru) ・Manufacturer Series 2020 Champion (Team Subaru) ・Nations Cup 2020 Champion (Japan) ・GR Supra GT Cup 2020 Champion |
| Japan | Tomoaki Yamanaka | ・TOYOTA GAZOO Racing GT Cup 2021 Champion ・Manufacturers Series 2021 Champion (Team Toyota) ・Manufacturer Series 2019 Champion (Team Toyota) |
■ Race of Champions 2024 Race Details
Drivers/Cars
| Igor Fraga | Nissan R32 GT-R NISMO '90 |
| Valerio Gallo | Honda NSX Type R '02 |
| Kanata Kawakami | Toyota SUPRA RZ '97 |
| Kylian Drumont | Ferrari F40 '92 |
| Ryota Kokubun | Mazda RX-7 Spirit R Type A (FD) '02 |
| Coque López | Nismo 400R '95 |
| Harald Walsen | Nissan SKYLINE GT-R V･spec II Nür (R34) '02 |
| José Serrano | Audi R8 Coupé V10 plus '16 |
| Pol Urra | AMG Mercedes-AMG GT Black Series '20 |
| Mikail Hizal | Nissan GT-R Premium Edition '17 |
| Takuma Miyazono | Lamborghini Gallardo LP 560-4 '08 |
| Tomoaki Yamanaka | Porsche 911 GT3 RS (991) '16 |
Final Race
| Track | Tokyo Expressway - East Clockwise |
| Laps | 10 |
| Condition | Sunny |
| Start Type | Rolling Start |
| Useable Tyre & Types | Racing: Hard |
| Required Tyre Type Change | None |
| Fuel Consumption Rate | None |
| Tyre Wear Rate | None |
| BoP / Tuning Prohibited | On |
| Slipstream Strength | Custom |
| Car Settings | Brake Balance |
| Penalty Settings | Shortcut Penalty: Light Wall Collision Penalty: Weak Pit Lane Line Cutting Penalty: On |