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.
We already had a skeletal overview of the season, which will comprise a very brisk, six-race season in each of the two championships. Each will be packed into barely three weeks, so it’ll be all over and done with by the end of February — a month before the first live event of the year in Abu Dhabi.
That’s not going to leave a lot of preparation time, with drivers aiming to pull a double-duty this season needing to transition from the regular Gr.3s (no Gr.4s this year again) of the Manufacturers Cup to what looks like a very high downforce set of Nations Cup races.
The two calendars are as follows, with the exact details beyond car/track combos in the Nations Cup yet to be revealed:
Gran Turismo World Series 2026 – Manufacturers Cup
- Round 1 – January 14 – Road Atlanta/Gr.3 – 22 laps
- Round 2 – January 17 – Dragon Trail Gardens/Gr.3 – 20 laps
- Round 3 – January 21 – Deep Forest/Gr.3 – 20 laps
- Round 4 – January 24 – Nurburgring 24h/Gr.3 – 5 laps
- Round 5 – January 28 – Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps/Gr.3 – 20 laps
- Round 6 – January 31 – Watkins Glen/Gr.3 – 17 laps
Gran Turismo World Series 2026 – Nations Cup
- Round 1 – February 11 – Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps/F3500-B – TBA laps
- Round 2 – February 14 – Circuit Gilles-Villeneuve/Red Bull X2019 – TBA laps
- Round 3 – February 18 – Nurburgring GP/Gr.3 Selection – TBA laps
- Round 4 – February 21 – Circuit de Sainte-Croix/F3500-B – TBA laps
- Round 5 – February 25 – Suzuka Circuit/Red Bull X2019 – TBA laps
- Round 6 – February 28 – Fuji International Speedway/Gr.2 – TBA laps
Once again, Manufacturers Cup is an all-Gr.3 series, and surprisingly there’s no place on the calendar for either of the two new circuits added in Spec III. That ultimately means that it’s a pretty familiar affair, and in fact there is one repeat combination from 2025 in the shape of the round at Spa. It’s identical in length too. A second race is a near-clone, though runs at the 24h Nurburgring course rather than the Endurance.
It’s a little disappointing to see a seventh Gr.3 race, with one of the six Nations Cup rounds using a specific selection (as-yet unrevealed, but we wouldn’t be surprised to see Toyota, Lexus, and Mazda involved) at the Nurburgring GP.
With something in the range of 480 other cars to use in the game, it’s also a surprise to see four of the other rounds effectively being twins: two X2019 races, and two F3500 races (one A, one B). That leaves a Gr.2 round at Fuji which, unless some BOP tinkering happens before February 11, will likely require one of the three 2016 GT500 cars. At least Circuit Gilles-Villeneuve has a spot on the calendar though.
It doesn’t appear to matter which of the Leagues you enter this year (see below if you’re not familiar with Leagues) as all of the races have the same regulations — including the self-repairing “light” damage which does little to discourage poor behavior — and only the time slots differ.
You’ll have the regular ten entry slots, starting on the hour and spread across the day from morning to night with a lunch break, for GT2 and GT3, while GT1 players remain limited to just three spots. The exact times vary by region, but they’re mainly keyed to put the middle GT1 slot in the early evening for the GT7-playing population center.
As ever, you can enter as many slots as you like, but only the points acquired in your final entry count towards your total — even if you disconnect or quit and score zero. Your best five round scores are added up for your overall score, so it’s worth taking a score you’re happy with and not risking it.
Just as was the case with 2025, only nine drivers will qualify from Nations Cup too. The top three finishers from 2025 — Jose Serrano, Takuma Miyazono, and Pol Urra — will return, leaving just one spot each for North America, Asia, and Oceania, with two for South America and four for the EMEA region.
If you want to have a go at the GT World Series, even if you’re not going to be in the running for qualifying to a live event, you need to head into Sport Mode (which unlocks after you complete Menu Book 9, “Championship: Tokyo Highway Parade”, in GT Cafe), and click on the special tile under Championships. This will be marked “Manufacturers Cup” until the end of January and be replaced with “Nations Cup” before the event starts in February.
For Manufacturers you’ll be prompted to select a brand to represent, which will temporarily award you two free cars for use in the series. In both championships you’ll be assigned into a “League” appropriate to your Driver Rating (DR), and you’ll remain there no matter how your DR changes during the season. Only GT1 players can qualify for the finals, and note that a PlayStation Plus subscription is required as these are online multiplayer races.
As well as scoring points and hopefully having fun, you can also pick up some bonus credits for taking part. You can earn up to 10m credits in GT1 and 5m in GT2/3, with rewards assigned according to your ranking across four categories: your nation or chosen manufacturer, primary and secondary geographical areas within your nation, and region.
Best of luck to all who take part, and we’ll see you at the live events later this year!
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