Kyle Patrick

Automakers can have trouble keeping new models under wraps. With patent drawings and model cars leaking before the model they’re based on is ready for the spotlight, it can be hard for companies to keep upcoming vehicles truly secret (the Ford GT’s reveal last year being one of the high-profile genuine surprises we’ve seen recently). These leaks can also affect movies, and now, it looks like Gran Turismo has joined the ranks.

Last November, Bugatti announced that the Veyron replacement would be known as Chiron. Named after the dominating driver of the 20’s and 30’s, Louis Chiron, the car is expected to utilize a variation on the Veyron’s immensely powerful W16 quad-turbo heart. Now, a new report has surfaced alleging the car will continue the modern Bugatti tradition of setting insanely high top seeds.

2015 has proven to be a year of expansion, for both Gran Turismo and GTPlanet. Gran Turismo 6 is largely complete after a little over two years on the market, and the series is set to land on Sony’s current PS4 in 2016, with an approach that will mark numerous firsts for series creator Polyphony Digital.

Heading into the final day of 2015, we’re here with our twelfth Track Of The Week for Gran Turismo 6 drivers. With the majority of the picks so far being replicas – like last week’s Estoril – we’re heading back to the realm of fantasy. We’ve got a familiar name with us for the trip too…

Round Two! Well, rounds three and four, actually. Today will see the second half of the 2015-closing Special Event XV from the Weekly Race Series Online folks. The first two rounds took place yesterday, with the pack hunting at high speeds in a Ferrari GTO at Monza, and dancing a classic first-generation Miata through the Corkscrew at Laguna Seca.

The Weekly Race Series crew has put together a handful of casual races to close out 2015, with the first one starting in a matter of minutes. Earlier this month, the community was asked to vote on their favourite combos from WRS’ 100+ week past in GT6, with close tallies for all four of the final choices. Two races will be held today, while two more will take place tomorrow.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nlVZgWFsJao

With over a quarter million registered users, GTPlanet can seem a little big. Going by 2012 numbers, it would actually rank 74th in terms of American cities, sitting between Buffalo NY and Fort Wayne IN. Like any big city, the land of GTPlanet has some standout citizens, those that have a reputation amongst the populace.

We’re heading into the final weeks of 2015, and today will see GTPlanet’s Weekly Race Series wrap up their final special event series of the year. Held at Fuji Speedway, this race looks likely to be an intense one, with extra points available for all places, and all accumulated ballasts over the season reset to zero.

Welcome back to GTP’s Track Of The Week, where we highlight outstanding creations from our community. This is the tenth week, so we’re throwing you something new: a point-to-point ribbon of tarmac to really test your car’s setup!

A complete redesign of Polyphony Digital’s website went live earlier today, and with it, the company has updated us on the subject of sales for the second time in 2015. During GT Sport’s first unveiling in Paris, PD had snuck a quick mention of a rough series total into the game’s website. Over 75 million units had been sold as of March 2015, while today’s newer tallies come from September of this year.

The WRS and 3D3 are lining up one more Online Special Event to close out 2015. While the GT500 Series will be running its final race this coming Sunday, four races taking part on the 27th and 28th will look back at some of the most popular car and track combinations the WRS have run over the course of GT6’s life.

Welcome to Around The Planet. No, we’re not a Daft Punk cover band. This new feature will look at community-building threads around our forum, where folks can share their passion for that common bond, the reason we’re all here: driving, in its many forms. For the first article in the series, we’re focusing on a thread that combines two of the most popular games in our community in a creative way.

Ghost Games weren’t kidding around about injecting the new Need For Speed with considerable fan service. Whatever your opinion may be on the arcade racer (see GTPlanet’s here), there’s no arguing that the franchise is one of the most well-known in the business. Spanning over two decades, with twenty-two (and counting) titles under its belt, there is a considerable history for the developers to draw from. With the Legends Update, that’s precisely what they’ve done.

It’s the ninth week of our regular Track Of The Week article, and we’re changing gears. The last three circuits have been replicas of various world-famous venues (Road America, Serres Circuit, and, most recently, Portimao), while we’ve only had two fantasy tracks since the feature began nearly two months ago. The third to step into the spotlight is Melder’s Brook.

The final WRS championship of 2015 is about to hit its mid-way point, with the third of five races starting today. Above, you can catch the live stream (care of staff member and racer @PASM), kicking off at 20:00 GMT/UTC.

Back in the summer, a 26-year old postal delivery driver took part in a little competition you may have heard of: GT Academy. This van-driving man – by the name of Matt Simmons – would go on to win the International Region GT Academy competition. In the article linked, we mentioned Simmons was entering the usual post-Academy 3-month training program that Nissan puts each winner through, in preparation for the Dubai 24 Hours race in January. That’s not the case anymore, however.

Here we are in December, days away from the two year anniversary of GT6, for the eighth iteration of GTPlanet’s Track Of The Week. It’s another real-world replica this week, as we travel to Portugal’s Algarve International Circuit (commonly referred to as simply Portimao).

Hidden among the 918 MB update earlier this week (that covered the inclusion of the Mobil 1 Car Pack, as well as numerous fixes to the game), Turn 10 has quietly snuck a Nissan Silvia into Forza Motorsport 6. Not the oft-requested S14 generation though: this is the first generation of the venerable nameplate, a model that only saw 554 units produced, all hand-built.