2026 gets off with a bang in the Gran Turismo 7 Online Time Trial challenges, with a rare appearance of the hardcore Pagani Zonda R in the global hotlap competition.
That sets up a situation where we have what’s basically two track-oriented cars at two fictional Gran Turismo circuits running alongside each other, with the Pagani accompanying last week’s Supra GT Road Car event at Grand Valley.
If you’re not familiar with the Zonda R, it was intended as the ultimate interpretation of the upstart hypercar from Horacio Pagani’s pen. It combined every single bit of knowledge over a decade of Zonda production and a few ideas for the subsequent Huayra all rolled into one, with the notion of road-legality pushed to one side.
The R — built in a run of 15 cars, although some were converted to other specifications — featured the earlier six-liter version of the Mercedes-AMG V12, rather than the 7.3-liter unit introduced a year earlier in the F, but at 740hp it was comfortably the most powerful model. Other than a handful of one-offs, it remains so.
You’ll be trying to keep all of that power, delivered to the two rear wheels only, in check over a lap of Dragon Trail Seaside — with Racing Soft tires to help the cause. This circuit, introduced in GT Sport, will go down as one of the all-time classic GT original courses in part thanks to its (Special Stage Route 11-esque?) double-chicane known as “The Chicane of Death” to fans.
Currently the lap record sits at a 1:28.7 and there’s actually very few times under the 1:29 mark right now which suggests that the limit is being reached. That should mean that the various dynamic target times shouldn’t change too much, with gold currently at 1:31.373; we don’t think that’ll fall below a 1:31 by the end of the event.
One week remains on the Christmas Day event, which puts players — all players — into one of the paid DLC Power Pack-exclusive cars. Even if you don’t have the Power Pack, or haven’t unlocked the car in it, or play on PS4 where it’s not available at all, you can rent this homologation-special style car for the lap with the required Sports Soft tires fitted automatically (which you’ll need to buy if you use your own car).
With a week down, the current world record is a 1:52.593 — a handy quarter of a second from the next best, and there’s only five cars even in the 1:52s at all — as original world champion Igor Fraga sits atop the table. That sets the gold time at 1:55.970 right now and we’re not sure that’s going to drop at all as it requires the record to be beaten. Aim for a 1:55.750 just in case, but it’s probably unnecessary.
In order to access the Online Time Trials, you’ll need to unlock Sport Mode, by completing Menu Book 9 (“Championship: Tokyo Highway Parade”) in the GT Cafe single player hub. As it’s just you against the clock and not a direct, head-to-head multiplayer event, PlayStation Plus is not required.
You’ll usually need to be within 3% of the fastest time globally once the event finishes in order to secure “gold” status and a 2m credit bonus prize. There’s smaller prizes of one million for being within 5%, and 250,000cr for bronze at 10% off.
The events update every Thursday, with each individual challenge usually remaining available for two weeks and the oldest of the two events being replaced each week. You can look forward to the next new Time Trial arriving at 0700 UTC on Thursday January 8.
Gran Turismo 7 Lap Time Challenge January 1 – Dragon Trail
- Track: Dragon Trail Seaside
- Car: Pagani Zonda R ’09 – Garage/Rental Car
- Power/Weight/PP Limit: BOP (M)
- Tires: Racing Soft
- Settings: Fixed
Gran Turismo 7 Lap Time Challenge December 25 – Grand Valley
- Track: Grand Valley Highway-1
- Car: Toyota Supra GT Road Car – Garage/Rental Car
- Power/Weight/PP Limit: BOP (M)
- Tires: Sports Soft
- Settings: Fixed
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