Gran Turismo World Series discussion

[dazdilly75]

It happened roughly around the time they realised the majority of people still playing Sport Mode on a regular basis are the type to throw a tantrum whenever they see a car with less than 500 downforce. (not aimed at you, or anyone else in this thread )
It's unfortunate, but that's apparently the demographic most drawn to Sport.

The overused Redbull X2019 must be subject to some kind of Licence agreement, when the car was introduced into the game. Road cars on Sport/comfort tyres require a different skill set to drive, compared to high downforce cars and I would argue that GT's identity as a franchise is heavily linked to road cars and car culture, which is why constantly shoving the RB down our throats every season, must be due to a mandatory agreement for its appearance in the game? It just makes no sense at all, in the context of what the franchise is all about. In GT Sport, Nations rounds were a nice variation of high down force single seaters, road cars and GR class cars. Now we have this!?

 

[Talon16]

So what am I doing wrong here? According to the site, the GT1 timeslots are 17:00, 19:00, & 21:00 GMT. GMT is five hours ahead of EST. So the races are at 12:00, 2:00, and 4:00 EST? And half of the series is during the week when a large percentage of the population works?! And that's the best time zone in the country, it's even worse on the west coast as the times are 9:00A, 11:00A, and 1:00P.

...and the first timeslot in GT2 is at 5:00AM back to 2:00AM. WT*?!

That has to be a mistake, right? I've not looked in game yet just on the site.

 

[Blade_Rudder]

So what am I doing wrong here? According to the site, the GT1 timeslots are 17:00, 19:00, & 21:00 GMT. GMT is five hours ahead of EST. So the races are at 12:00, 2:00, and 4:00 EST? And half of the series is during the week when a large percentage of the population works?! And that's the best time zone in the country, it's even worse on the west coast as the times are 9:00A, 11:00A, and 1:00P.

View attachment 1504847

...and the first timeslot in GT2 is at 5:00AM back to 2:00AM. WT*?!

View attachment 1504848
That has to be a mistake, right? I've not looked in game yet just on the site.

It’s not unusual for the website times to be wrong, even in the UK they are usually an hour out in the summer where we are GMT+1. Hold judgment until you’ve had an opportunity to check in-game. Those will be accurate timings…

 

[MCL1974]

really dissapointed that Gr. 4 is removed again from the Manufacturers Series, it really takes all the fun away of selecting a manufacturer, now it is just a limited selection of the best GR 3 cars that most will choose. Personally I really liked the Gr. 4 races to.

Also was really hoping for a bit of 'oddball' race like Tsukuba, st. Croix or Sardegna. Or why not Alsace for once? It seems to be always Spa, Nurburgring, Interlagos and a few more that get rotated over and over again. Guess PD is playing it safe and is only selecting what is the most popular for the majority. Understandable in a way but originality is pretty much gone...

Also really would prefer a bit more time inbetween races, this is just feels so rushed.

Anyway, enough complaining, might do a few rounds if work and daily life allows; Deep Forrest could be fun and Watkins Glenn is still one of my favourite tracks.

 

[hyperspeed980]

The overused Redbull X2019 must be subject to some kind of Licence agreement, when the car was introduced into the game. Road cars on Sport/comfort tyres require a different skill set to drive, compared to high downforce cars and I would argue that GT's identity as a franchise is heavily linked to road cars and car culture, which is why constantly shoving the RB down our throats every season, must be due to a mandatory agreement for its appearance in the game? It just makes no sense at all, in the context of what the franchise is all about. In GT Sport, Nations rounds were a nice variation of high down force single seaters, road cars and GR class cars. Now we have this!?

I think it's unfortunately another case of chasing player metrics over unique, varied experiences. Same reason why the daily races run some variation of Gr.4 and Gr.3 literally every week instead of using the other 500 cars that are in the game, or even daring to approach the idea of tuning (which should be a core part of the gameplay experience).

Sadly, if you introduce these interesting concepts to the online races, the masses that play Sport will find it confusing, or challenging, and so the player numbers drop that week. Even something like the JGTC Suzuka Daily C got far lower numbers than usual, for the unforgivable sin of... having rain. Or not having one clear meta car. Yeah, the state of Sport is depressing.

 

[BGreenFace]

I posted this in the latest new thread but I think it is more appropriate here:

For the manufacturers cup qualifiers here are the details

Round 1: road Atlanta (22 lap) (RS+RM)
Round 2: Dragon trail Garden (20 lap) (No mandatory tire so maybe rain)
Round 3: Deep forest (20 lap) (RM 1 stop)
Round 4: N24 (5 lap) (RS+RM)
Round 5: Spa (20 lap) (Probably similar than the last two race at Spa)
Round 6: Watkin Glen (17 lap) (RM+ RH)

All the race will be in Gr3 and from what I can tell the mid engine cars like the defending champion Porsche,will probably be better in the round 1,2,6 and more aggressive car such as the M6, the AMG, Viper, GTR will perform better in round 3,5. Round 4 at the ring is anyone game but from what I can tell so far the 296 and the Supra feel quick.

according to the gt website only your 5 best scoring round will count.

 

[Moose78]

That has to be a mistake, right? I've not looked in game yet just on the site.

Yeah. I noticed that, too. IIRC, the same thing happened in other seasons.

I'm assuming -- also haven't checked in the game -- that the GT1 times are 8PM, 10PM, and 12PM EST (5PM, 7PM, and 9PM PST).

Throwing in my two cents on the race selection...

Things I like: all longer races. It is a decent, but maybe overused, selection of tracks. Looks like there will be elements of strategy across the board.

It looks like rain is a possibility only at Dragon Trail and Spa. I'm doubtful we'll see any at Nurburgring since it has mandatory tire compounds. And rain isn't possible at the other tracks.

I'm disappointed, but not too surprised, that Gr.4 was dropped. I'd guess with the way that the live events are structured now with each event only hosting drivers from a single region, it would be difficult to incorporate them fairly.

Also under the disappointing-but-not-surprising category is the failure once again to do anything to improve the slot schedules. Only 3 slots for GT1 is absurd. Even in GT2/3, where there are more slots, there is the huge gap in the afternoon (EST) between the morning and evening slots, when it would be most convenient to race. Just disappointing.

As for Nations, like @Zorz I tend to do well in the high-downforce cars, so maybe I shouldn't complain, but I'd really like to see more variety there. One-make road car races make for fun, close racing. I wish were getting some of those.

 

[MIE1992]

Very interesting to see Spa-Francorchamps in both cups, plus a separate event for each of the F3500 models rather than combining them like in the recent weekly challenge. Then there's the fact that the Nurburgring is in both cups, though it's the full 24h layout vs the GP circuit. I would've liked to see Gr.4 in the Manufacturers Cup but I wonder if PD didn't want to effectively interrupt the season by introducing the Hyundai Elantra N TCR later this month? (That update could arrive with other Gr.4 BoP changes, too.)

 

[BGreenFace]

Things I like: all longer races. It is a decent, but maybe overused, selection of tracks. Looks like there will be elements of strategy across the board.

It looks like rain is a possibility only at Dragon Trail and Spa. I'm doubtful we'll see any at Nurburgring since it has mandatory tire compounds. And rain isn't possible at the other tracks.

I'm disappointed, but not too surprised, that Gr.4 was dropped. I'd guess with the way that the live events are structured now with each event only hosting drivers from a single region, it would be difficult to incorporate them fairly.

Also under the disappointing-but-not-surprising category is the failure once again to do anything to improve the slot schedules. Only 3 slots for GT1 is absurd. Even in GT2/3, where there are more slots, there is the huge gap in the afternoon (EST) between the morning and evening slots, when it would be most convenient to race. Just disappointing.

I’m with you dude
Last year was my first year in the manufacturer cup and I feel like I have driven spa every time. I was hoping for CGV and Yas Marina but it wasn’t meant to be. At least like you said longer race with strategy which is good. I feel like 2/6 race with rain is a good amount and regarding gr4, I feel since the gr3 is more balanced it just more fair to every manufacturer for the qualifiers.
Hope I will race you again this season
Cheers

 

[Famine]

This is the discussion thread for an article on GTPlanet:

Gran Turismo World Series 2026 Online Qualifying Events Announced​

The surprisingly early official 2026 Gran Turismo World Series season is almost upon us, and with the online qualifiers set to begin in under a week Polyphony Digital has revealed the all-important race details that will determine who’ll be heading to the four live events this year...

 

[Childe Roland]

Afternoon mid week races again but this time in a more inapropiate time?
We must accept that the whole GTWS is aimed to kids with no jobs or responsibilities to attend and move on.

Only 6 races for nations, 6 races for manu and thats all for the year?

I checked what was the schedule back in the times of GT sport (2018)
30 races between may and september 😭

At least the 24hr Nurburgring race is on saturday for manufacturers.

 

[newmedia_dev]

That road atlanta race also feels like another repeat-ish?

 

[Talon16]

That road atlanta race also feels like another repeat-ish?

Indeed. Literally the last season had RA but it was 30 laps (vs 22) and tire was 4x (vs 3x). Everything else is the same.

 

[Famine]

That road atlanta race also feels like another repeat-ish?

Literally the last season had RA but it was 30 laps (vs 22) and tire was 4x (vs 3x). Everything else is the same.

Yes. I've only flagged the repeat and near-repeat official qualifier events. Road Atlanta was in the Exhibition Season and, yes, longer.


I'd struggle to make a less appealing list in both championships (or at least if I wasn't allowed off-road and ovals). It's like they don't want people to try so they only get the same people back to save on having to photograph them.

 

[Blade_Rudder]

Afternoon mid week races again but this time in a more inapropiate time?
We must accept that the whole GTWS is aimed to kids with no jobs or responsibilities to attend and move on.

Only 6 races for nations, 6 races for manu and thats all for the year?

I checked what was the schedule back in the times of GT sport (2018)
30 races between may and september 😭

View attachment 1504865

At least the 24hr Nurburgring race is on saturday for manufacturers.

Check on your console. I’m confident everyone has evening races available. GT2&3 will also have morning and afternoon races too.

 

[dazdilly75]

That road atlanta race also feels like another repeat-ish?

Spa is Also a cut and paste of last season.

 

[Childe Roland]

Check on your console. I’m confident everyone has evening races available. GT2&3 will also have morning and afternoon races too.

I hope you are right and the GMT slots they published are wrong.
Im going to check it at night on the console when I arrive home.

 

[Moose78]

I'm assuming -- also haven't checked in the game -- that the GT1 times are 8PM, 10PM, and 12PM EST (5PM, 7PM, and 9PM PST).

I've had time to log in to the console to check and I appears I was off by an hour, judging by the slot times I'm seeing for GT2. It looks to me like the GT1 slots will be 7PM, 9PM, and 11PM EST (4PM, 6PM, and 8PM PST).

In GT2 (and I assume GT3), the morning slots run hourly from 10AM to 2PM EST (7AM to 11AM PST).

 

[newmedia_dev]

I've had time to log in to the console to check and I appears I was off by an hour, judging by the slot times I'm seeing for GT2. It looks to me like the GT1 slots will be 7PM, 9PM, and 11PM EST (4PM, 6PM, and 8PM PST).

In GT2 (and I assume GT3), the morning slots run hourly from 10AM to 2PM EST (7AM to 11AM PST).

The UK is running 5/7/9 for GT1 and the normal through out the day.

Apologies as a single timezone country my only concern is “is most of Europe 1 or 2 hours ahead” 🤣

 

[bduddy]

About as much creativity as the annual F1 schedule. Come on, PD, this is really the best you can do? I don't even mind the X2019 that much but there's just so much else to do in this game... except Sport Mode, I guess.

 

[RACECAR]

Well, guess that means I won't even bother making liveries for the GR.4 cars. On one hand, Seriously? On the other, I can't say having GR.4 for the qualifiers only to not feature them at all for the World Tour events would've been better.

As for Nations, literally tons of options they could've went with and yet its basically just Open-Wheel style mania (Save the Fuji event, which is honestly probably the only one I'll likely attempt).

 

[brockie]

I’m not normally one for these things, serial
Daily racer but never entered even one of these, usually due to the race length or not liking the track/car combo but you know what, I’m in this time, apart from green hell I like those tracks and I’ll be racing for BMW 😬

Good luck all

 

[ZEE]

Creativity is severly lacking in these upcoming Manu Races schedule, they pick tracks that everyone will be competitive in but also the Dirty scounderel drivers/Rammers thrive in, which they must take note of. It's as if PD don't realise their own scheduling, ok emulating GTWS races is fine enough, so we can try to play as the top players do, but come on man, let's add some Vvvvariety.

Maybe even some power pack races chucked in, with 4x4/buggy cars, GR B Rally car races or Nascar style races (mustang- chevys) , A Rally course, rallycross maybe? Woulda/couda have been more enjoyable and diverse??

Wish they added Yas at least as that is a good circuit for this type of racing in GR.3 or F1 cars!
Timeslots are always a mess and juggling for working people, it don't seem like a concern for PD, like they live on a cloud lol.

That being said, I will still enter them, and see if its worth bustin' out my flip flops to get ready and do some practicing on Atlanta.

 

[MCL1974]

Initially I was going for Lexus, as I drive an RC IRL, drove a few laps, then considering BMW (to familiar) but in the end I wanted to drive for a manufacturer that I never used before. Considered Mitsubishu or VW (to ugly) but I decided to go with Dodge, never used them in GTS or GT7 so a bit of an oddball for me.

So created a livery yesterday and did a bit of testing and so far I am not regretting my choise. The car doesnt'really feel that fast to me but laptimes show I am actually faster (less slow) then I am in the BMW, much to my surprise...

 

[VillaJ100]

I've gone with Porsche again, but this time I'm solidly B rank so expecting a much harder time of it 😵

 

[Hdbd04]

Gonna stick with the Jag again for this season. At least with my semester breaks coming in, I shouldn't miss a round. Still, it feels like yesterday that there was a race at RA with similar conditions.

 

[Moose78]

I've done some strategy testing for this first round at Road Atlanta in the Aston Martin V12 Vantage and Renault R.S.01. This is how things are looking for me...

I did two 14-lap stints on each tire compound in each car. As usual, to smooth out the data, I constructed an 'optimal' race from the faster of each lap.

Summary:

Manufacturer	Model	Tire compound	Laps	Opt time	Best time	Avg time	Total time
Renault	R.S.01 GT3 '16	RS	14​	1:19.416​	1:19.477​	1:20.602​	18:48.429​
Renault	R.S.01 GT3 '16	RM	14​	1:20.081​	1:20.450​	1:21.015​	18:54.209​
Aston Martin	V12 Vantage GT3 '12	RS	14​	1:19.454​	1:19.574​	1:20.727​	18:50.180​
Aston Martin	V12 Vantage GT3 '12	RM	14​	1:19.952​	1:20.192​	1:20.838​	18:51.735​

Tire tread levels at finish:

Manufacturer	Model	Tire compound	Laps	Front left	Front right	Rear left	Rear right
Renault	R.S.01 GT3 '16	RS	14​	10%​	15%​	45%​	35%​
Renault	R.S.01 GT3 '16	RM	14​	60%​	75%​	55%​	70%​
Aston Martin	V12 Vantage GT3 '12	RS	14​	0%​	40%​	30%​	55%​
Aston Martin	V12 Vantage GT3 '12	RM	14​	55%​	75%​	70%​	80%​

Using these 'optimal' races, I'm able to simulate all of the one-stop strategies from 8RS-14RM to 14RS-8RM. These were the three fastest for each car:

Manufacturer	Model	Strategy	Total time
Aston Martin	V12 Vantage GT3 '12	9RS-13RM	29:33.877​
Aston Martin	V12 Vantage GT3 '12	8RS-14RM	29:34.157​
Aston Martin	V12 Vantage GT3 '12	10RS-12RM	29:34.528​
Renault	R.S.01 GT3 '16	12RS-10RM	29:35.930​
Renault	R.S.01 GT3 '16	11RS-11RM	29:36.171​
Renault	R.S.01 GT3 '16	10RS-12RM	29:36.238​

Note: This simulation approach makes no distinction between the order of the stints. For example, 10RS-12RM gives the same time as 12RM-10RS because it is just the sum of the lap times either way. In an actual race, the second stint would be faster because of the reduced fuel weight.

Some comments and observations...

The Vantage is better here than I was expecting. I expected it to be way behind the R.S.01, but it keeps up. Not only that, it has a better overall race time than the R.S.01. I find that surprising. Granted, that gap might narrow with more testing. For example, I could probably improve on laps 4 and 5 in the R.S.01 on the RS tires.

The difference between the top strategies is pretty small. It looks like anything between 9 and 12 laps on the RS tires is viable, so it seems like there will be a fair bit of wiggle room in deciding when to pit in the actual race.

EDIT #1: I meant to mention that I also tested the DBR9, but it wasn't competitive here, so I left it out of the tables and charts. If you are interested, you can find the results in the raw data here.

EDIT #2: Updated the strategy simulation table and related comments using the correct number of laps.

 

[newmedia_dev]

Thank you @Moose78 for your testing data!

Also your data for the Aston is a really good proxy for the my BMW. I picked BMW for the option to use either of the M6s or the Z4 at deep forest round this season.

The bop between the cars is also extremely close as well which is great to see in your data!

 

[Talon16]

Thank you @Moose78 for your testing data!

Also your data for the Aston is a really good proxy for the my BMW. I picked BMW for the option to use either of the M6s or the Z4 at deep forest round this season.

The bop between the cars is also extremely close as well which is great to see in your data!

The Z4 is a dark horse. I think it gets overshadowed my the M6s but it's very stable, has good acceleration out of tight turns, and is decent on the straights. Track dependent of course but don't look past it for sure.

 

[Zorz]

I've done some strategy testing for this first round at Road Atlanta in the Aston Martin V12 Vantage and Renault R.S.01. This is how things are looking for me...

I hate to point it out after you've put that effort in, but round 1 is 22 laps, not 20. 😅

I'm currently looking at either 12M-10S or 13M-9S (or some variant thereof) myself based on the testing I've done so far. The softs are far from dead at that point in the R8 and easily have some extra laps in them, but they're noticeably falling off for me around then. My last full distance run was a 29:36 going 10S-12M. The pit stop looks to be about a 23-24 second loss overall.