The second Nations Cup Exhibition Season of 2026 is on its approach, with Polyphony Digital asserting a four-round calendar that will get underway on Saturday, September 19 and runs by October 17.
It follows the identical compact format as last month’s Manufacturers Cup exhibition, however there may be one wrinkle within the schedule this time: the 4 rounds are unfold throughout 5 Saturdays, with a weekend off on October 3 whereas the World Series Round 3 broadcast from Singapore takes over.
The Schedule
The range is the draw right here, with 4 totally different automotive classes throughout the 4 rounds:
- Spherical 1 – September 19 – Autódromo de Interlagos – Gr.3 Choice – 20 laps
- Spherical 2 – September 26 – Fuji Worldwide Speedway – Gr.1 Choice – 27 laps
- Spherical 3 – October 10 – Sardegna Highway Monitor A – Fifties Classics – 10 laps
- Spherical 4 – October 17 – Deep Forest Raceway Reverse – Pink Bull X2019 – 35 laps
Each spherical makes use of a specified automotive checklist slightly than a full class, and all 4 are rolling begins with 16-car grids. Full race particulars are on the official championship page.
What to Watch
The opening spherical is a Gr.3 race with a twist. Quite than the complete class, Interlagos makes use of a five-car choice (the Audi R8 LMS Evo, Ferrari 296 GT3, Lamborghini Huracán GT3, McLaren 650S GT3, and Porsche 911 GT3 R) on Racing Medium tires, with a compulsory pit cease, 2x gasoline consumption, and a 5x tire put on fee. Testing is already underway within the GTPlanet boards, the place Moose78’s early full-distance runs counsel going the complete 20 laps with out a tire change will likely be tight.
Spherical 2 is the longest race of the season. It’s 27 laps of Fuji in a five-car Gr.1 choice made up of the Toyota GR010 Hybrid and the 4 LMH/LMDh vehicles that arrived in Update 1.70 in June. Tire put on is 3x with Racing Medium and Racing Smooth out there, gasoline consumption is 1x, and there’s no obligatory pit cease. Fuji is likely one of the circuits that helps rain in GT7, and qualifying is just 5 minutes, so there’s not a lot margin for a scrappy session.
Spherical 3 is the odd one out. It’s a ten-lap dash round Sardegna’s Highway Monitor A in a dozen pre-war and Fifties classics on Sports activities Exhausting tires, with gasoline and tire put on switched off. The checklist runs from the Mercedes-Benz S Barker Tourer ’29 to the C1 Corvette, so there’s a little bit of one thing for everybody. These are event-specified vehicles with mounted settings, so there’s nothing to purchase and nothing to tune.
The finale is the Pink Bull X2019 at Deep Forest Reverse. It’s 35 laps with all three racing compounds obligatory, a 5x tire put on fee, and 2x gasoline consumption. There’s no minimal pit cease rely within the rules, however the tire requirement means at the least two stops.
Leagues and Entry Slots
The league system works because it has all 12 months. Gamers are positioned into GT1, GT2, or GT3 League primarily based on their Driver Score on the time they first enter the season, and keep there for the length no matter the place their DR goes afterwards. The rules are an identical throughout all three tiers; solely the slot occasions and the factors on supply differ.
Slot occasions are keyed to Pacific Time, and the Nations Cup runs an hour later than the Producers Cup did. GT1 League (DR A and A+) will get three night slots at 6:00pm, 8:00pm, and 10:00pm PDT, whereas GT2 and GT3 (DR B and under) have ten slots unfold throughout the day, working hourly from 9:00am to 1:00pm and once more from 6:00pm to 10:00pm.
That later begin pushes the primary GT1 slot to 9:00pm on the US East Coast and previous midnight in Europe, so examine your in-game occasions fastidiously. As at all times, you possibly can enter as many slots as you want per spherical, however solely your final race counts.
Factors
With solely 4 rounds, each certainly one of them counts in the direction of the ultimate rating. There’s no dropped spherical, so a disconnect or a foul slot selection can’t be written off the best way it might within the six-round seasons.
Ties are damaged by highest complete factors throughout all rounds, then highest single-round rating, then DR, then SR, and eventually by which account began taking part in GT7 first.
The GT1 League factors adjustment that Polyphony launched again in April, including 100 bonus factors uniformly on the high tier to assist matchmaking, continues right here.
Rewards
Credit score rewards match the construction from the Producers Cup exhibition, with the Producer rating changed by a Home (nation) rating alongside the Regional and two Native rankings.
GT1 gamers ending within the high 5% throughout each class can accumulate as much as 8 million credit in complete, with a GT2/GT3 ceiling of 4 million. A Bronze end (high 75%) nonetheless pays out in every class, so anybody who completes all 4 rounds will see one thing for his or her hassle. Rewards are distributed on the finish of the season by Sport mode.
Spherical 1 at Interlagos will get underway on September 19. Technique testing for the opener is already effectively underway within the GT World Series discussion thread if you’d like a head begin.
See extra articles on Gran Turismo World Series and GT World Series Exhibition Season.