There’s a welcome return for a 260mph chess game in the new Gran Turismo 7 Daily Races, available from this morning, as there’s a bit of a shake-up in the events and regulations following on from some recent flashes of variety in this multiplayer race mode.
For this week’s Daily Race A we’re getting to test out some pre-tuned vehicles in what’s been affectionately dubbed the “Meme Race” in GT7, appearing several times over the game’s life including — oddly — in a round of the GT World Series. It is, however, a little different from before.
The raw idea remains the same. You’ll have a choice of a dozen pre-tuned road cars, each packing around 1,000hp along with some upgrades to corral all of that power and get it onto the track, for a single, max-throttle lap around the 18.82-mile Special Stage Route X oval.
It’s the car choice that’s the twist here, as the heavily JDM Tuner list gives way to exotics and muscle cars already packing a punch. There’s still the Mitsubishi GTO, NISMO 400R, all-new NISMO Z-Tune, Nissan GT-R T-Spec, and classic Supra RZ in the list, but you’ll also be able to pick from the Audi R8 V10, Bugatti Chiron, Chevrolet Corvette C7 ZR1, Dodge Challenger Demon, Ferrari 812 Superfast, Lamborghini Aventador, and Porsche 992 Turbo S.
Unlike previous versions of this event, there’s no nitrous in this race either so it’s just raw power and slipstream. Without that balancing factor, it has become a bit of a one-make though, with the 992 dominating the qualifying leaderboards and forming most of any given grid too.
Another unusual detail here is that both Driver Rating and Sportsmanship Rating updates are turned off, so this is effectively an unranked race. Feel free to bump draft, but beware that penalties are still enabled and a particularly violent collision (which is all of them in cars doing 280mph in the draft) may result in big red numbers…
Race B remains its island of normal as usual, comprising a standard-fare, five-lap race of the Sardegna Road Track A course in Gr.3 cars.
While this category is usually pretty balanced, it’s looking like a lot of drivers are gravitating towards the Dodge Viper GT3-R for this race, which requires Racing Medium tires, but no other special considerations. The race was briefly subject to a 600% prize money increase, but this has been reverted to standard payouts since they first appeared.
There’s a one-make in Race C this week too, by way of the spectacular, 1990s’ F1-inspired F3500-A at what’s one of the sport’s most iconic venues: Monza.
As usual you can buy (despite the era that influenced it, the car is classed as a new vehicle and appears in Brand Central) or borrow the car in a variety of standard liveries for the 12-lap race at this high-speed circuit.
There is, as usual, a strategic element to the race which will also see you needing to consider not only tire life but slipstream effects too. You’ll be required to use a full set of both the Racing Medium and Racing Soft tire during this event, so that’ll mean you have to head into the pits to swap at some point between the end of lap one and the start of lap 12.
Be very careful when you do, as it’s easy to cut the pit lane entry and exit here, each offense garnishing you with a three-second time penalty to be served on-track. Failing to stop will add a minute to your time after the race. There’s also a False-Start Check on the Grid Start, which cuts your engine torque if you jump the lights, by as much time after the start as the amount by which you jumped it.
Given the tire wear multiplier, which sits at a middling 6x (or six times the normal rate) this week, it should be possible to do a little over half the race on the faster softs but you’ll need to be aware that there comes a point when the worn soft tires are slower than fresher mediums.
We do have a further twist in this race, as there is a vehicle setting available to you that wouldn’t ordinarily appear. You can, and probably should given Monza’s high-speed nature, adjust the car’s downforce — though be aware that you can’t save your race setting so will need to do it in the sub-minute warm-up period each and every time.
Daily Races are the main ranked multiplayer events in GT7. Your Driver Rating (DR) and Sportsmanship Rating (SR) are determined by your performances, updating at the end of each race, and these are used to set your ranking and league for the game’s flagship esports series each season.
In order to access the Daily Races, you’ll need to unlock Sport Mode, by completing Menu Book 9 (“Championship: Tokyo Highway Parade”) in the GT Cafe single player hub. A PlayStation Plus subscription is required to take part.
With GT7’s Daily Races updating every Monday across the game’s life to date, the next new set should arrive on Monday, August 4.
Gran Turismo 7 Daily Races July 28: Race A
- Track: Special Stage Route X – 1 lap
- Car: Car Selection – Specified Car
- Power/Weight/PP Limit: N/A
- Tires: Racing Hard
- Settings: Specified
- Start Type: Rolling Start
- Mandatory Pit Stop: 0
- Fuel use: Off
- Tire use: Off
Gran Turismo 7 Daily Races July 28: Race B
- Track: Sardegna Road Track A – 5 laps
- Car: Gr.3 – Garage/Specified Car
- Power/Weight/PP Limit: BOP (H)
- Tires: Racing Medium
- Settings: Partially Allowed – Brake Balance
- Start Type: Rolling Start
- Mandatory Pit Stop: 0
- Fuel use: 1x
- Tire use: 1x
Gran Turismo 7 Daily Races July 28: Race C
- Track: Autodromo Nazionale Monza – 12 laps
- Car: Gran Turismo F3500-A – Garage/Specified Car
- Power/Weight/PP Limit: BOP (H)
- Tires: Racing Medium†, Racing Soft†
- Settings: Partially Allowed – Brake Balance, Downforce
- Start Type: Grid Start with False Start Check
- Mandatory Pit Stop: 1
- Fuel use: 2x
- Tire use: 6x
† Denotes mandatory tire
See more articles on Gran Turismo 7 Daily Races.
