The 2026 Gran Turismo World Collection resumed on Saturday, with Spherical 2 broadcast from Polyphony Digital’s headquarters in Koto-ku, Tokyo. It was a unique type of occasion to the season opener in Milan: no theatre, no tickets, and no public crowd, with the one spectators being the Polyphony workers who make the sport itself.
That distinction was arduous to disregard. After years of dwell occasions, it was stunning how a lot of the present’s vitality seems to return from just a few thousand individuals in a room, and the way noticeable it’s once they’re not there.
Tom Brooks and Jimmy Broadbent known as the races from off-camera, so the published by no means had an opportunity to construct any of the on-screen chemistry between its normal English-language presenters.
In fact, this occasion needed to be unexpectedly put collectively after the season opener in Abu Dhabi was cancelled due to security concerns, so we have been fortunate to have this spherical in any respect, and it definitely didn’t have an effect on the racing!
Much less Information Than Anticipated
The present’s one piece of content material information got here from Mazda, which used the published to reveal the RX-Vision GT3 Evo, an up to date tackle its long-serving RX-Imaginative and prescient idea racer that’s confirmed as coming to GT7 “quickly”.
That was it for bulletins, which is stunning as a result of Polyphony has loads to speak about, particularly contemplating what’s in retailer for GT7 later this 12 months.
A new GT7 update is confirmed to arrive next Thursday, August 20, bringing the Toyota Chaser and Mark II Tourer V, the Hyundai Ioniq 6 N, and the Caterham Seven Superlight R500. There’s additionally mounting evidence it will include physics changes, with the On-line Time Trial schedule trimmed to a single week in precisely the way in which it was forward of the physics-altering Replace 1.49.
With the replace simply 5 days out, the World Collection stage would have been the pure place for a teaser, and getting nothing in any respect was disappointing for keen viewers. In fact, there’s a possible clarification: a pre-recorded present with dozens of rivals probably made Polyphony extra apprehensive about leaks than showmanship.
Producers Cup: Sasaki Delivers within the Rain
The Producers Cup put the championship’s 12 Asia-Oceania drivers behind the wheel, and handed them a troublesome problem: 27 laps of Fuji Worldwide Speedway, beginning in heavy rain.
Qualifying belonged to the rookies. Sota Moriyama, an 18-year-old making his World Collection debut, put the Audi R8 LMS on pole by way of the High 6 Qualifier, with Takuma Sasaki’s Porsche 911 GT3 R alongside and Yuki Kodaka’s Lamborghini Huracán GT3 in third.
Moriyama had a tough begin within the rain. {The teenager} ran huge on the soaked floor at Flip 1, handing Sasaki a lead he would by no means actually hand over.
The highest seven had all began on intermediates (just a few additional again gambled on full wets), and Sasaki managed the spray and the standing water with the type of calm that wins these races.
The decisive second got here as a dry line fashioned round Lap 10. Nissan’s Okumoto and Lexus driver Kanata Kawakami jumped first, taking mediums on Lap 12. Sasaki and Moriyama answered a lap later with softs, whereas Kodaka performed it secure.
The smooth tire was the suitable name. Sasaki was instantly quickest on the drying monitor and easily drove away, whereas Moriyama pale and Kodaka got here by way of for second.
Moriyama held on for third. A podium from pole place, in blended circumstances, on debut, is strictly the type of efficiency that had everybody speaking about rookies after Milan. The youngsters, it appears, are nonetheless alright.
The larger image is that Porsche is now two-for-two. Jose Serrano gained Milan, Sasaki gained Tokyo, and the producer sits on a most 12 factors, 5 away from Ferrari, with Lamborghini, Audi, and Mazda tied for third on 5.
Producers Cup Grand Remaining Outcomes
Producers Cup Level Rating
Nations Cup: Drumont Solutions Again
The Nations Cup introduced again the identical 12 drivers who raced in Milan, and it belonged solely to Kylian Drumont.
The Frenchman left Milan with nothing to indicate for genuinely front-running tempo, after contact with Jose Serrano dropped each drivers down the dash race order. In Tokyo, he gained every thing he entered.
The eight-lap dash occurred at Suzuka in a pleasant grid of Nineteen Nineties and 2000s sports activities vehicles. Drumont began from pole in a Honda NSX Sort R and managed the race all through, with Serrano’s Skyline GT-R R34 taking second from Valerio Gallo’s S2000 on Lap 2 however by no means threatening the lead.
Samuel Moreno, the Milan dash winner, briefly ran fourth in his Lamborghini Diablo earlier than working huge at Flip 1 and amassing a one-second penalty that dropped him out of rivalry.
The 35-lap Grand Remaining moved to the reversed Deep Forest Raceway within the Pink Bull X2019 Competitors, with all three tire compounds obligatory.
It was the race of the day. Serrano drafted previous Drumont for the lead on the opening lap, misplaced it a nook later, and the 2 spent the remainder of the race locked collectively by way of the tire methods. The boldest name got here from Gallo, who burned his smooth tires within the center stint to construct a lead he’d defend on hards, and with just a few laps remaining the Italian was out entrance with Drumont and Serrano closing quick.
Then got here Lap 33. Serrano compelled his well beyond Gallo within the horseshoe, made contact doing it, and the stewards handed the defending champion a one-second penalty.
When he slowed to serve it on the ultimate lap, Drumont, Gallo, Moreno, and Kokubun all streamed previous, dropping Serrano to fifth. The highest 4 crossed the road lined by lower than two seconds.
Drumont took the flag to finish an ideal Tokyo sweep. Gallo’s second place was a small piece of justice after his heartbreaking final-lap spin in Milan, and Moreno’s third was his first Nations Cup Grand Remaining podium, a a lot cleaner weekend from the 18-year-old after his messy debut. Kokubun took fourth in entrance of his house crowd, whereas Milan winner Pol Urra salvaged the final factors out there in sixth.
The end result reshuffles the championship solely. Drumont leaves Tokyo because the factors chief on 9, with Serrano and Urra tied on seven, Gallo on 5, and Moreno and Kokubun on 4 apiece. Half the sector is inside 5 factors of the lead with two rounds to run.
Nations Cup Grand Remaining Outcomes
What’s Subsequent
The subsequent spherical ought to have a extra acquainted really feel, even when it does happen in essentially the most unique locale to host a Gran Turismo occasion: Singapore.
The championship heads to the Sands Theatre on October 3, in entrance of an actual, ticketed crowd, with the Americas drivers taking their flip within the Producers Cup and the new Regional Cup making its debut. The World Finals then return to Tokyo (this time with an viewers) on December 5-6.
Within the meantime, it’s value remembering that watching the Tokyo broadcasts is what qualifies you for the two “Stealth Model” cars, together with the Mazda 787B, with distribution set for September 1. And with subsequent Thursday’s replace looming, we could not have to attend lengthy for Polyphony’s subsequent announcement in spite of everything.
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