The second Manufacturers Cup Exhibition Season of 2026 is on its way, with Polyphony Digital setting a four-round Gr.3 calendar that gets underway on Saturday, August 22 and runs through September 12.
It’s a tighter package than the first exhibition, which stretched to six rounds across six weeks earlier this year. This time around, four weekly rounds on consecutive Saturdays make up the full season, and every round counts towards the final standings (there’s no dropped round with only four to play).
The Schedule
All four rounds feature Gr.3 machinery on a varied circuit calendar:
- Round 1 – August 22 – Suzuka Circuit
- Round 2 – August 29 – Circuit Gilles-Villeneuve
- Round 3 – September 5 – Mount Panorama Motor Racing Circuit
- Round 4 – September 12 – Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya GP (No Chicane)
Barcelona makes its second appearance of the year, having also opened the first exhibition back in April. Mount Panorama returns too, though this time as a Gr.3 event rather than the Gr.4 outing it had in Exhibition 1.
What to Watch
The all-Gr.3 format is the big change here. Exhibition 1’s inclusion of two Gr.4 rounds forced some real compromises in manufacturer selection, as not every brand has a competitive car in both classes. That pressure is gone this time, which means manufacturer choice is simpler but no less important. The Gr.3 roster is better balanced overall, but certain cars still have clear advantages on specific circuits.
Suzuka and Barcelona are both well-known quantities from competitive play, so expect established setups and meta picks to surface quickly. Gilles-Villeneuve and Mount Panorama, on the other hand, tend to reward bravery and punish mistakes. The walls at Montreal are close and unforgiving, and Bathurst is… Bathurst (we’ve been there, and there’s nothing quite like it). Full race details, including tire wear rates, pit requirements, and lap counts for each round, are available on the official championship page.
Leagues and Entry Slots
The league system works the same as previous exhibition seasons. Players are placed into GT1, GT2, or GT3 League based on their Driver Rating at the time they first enter the season, and that assignment is locked in for the duration.
GT1 League (DR A and A+) has three evening entry slots, while GT2 and GT3 (DR B and below) get ten slots spread across the day. All times are keyed to Pacific Time, with the middle slot generally being the most convenient for each region’s core time zone. As always, you can enter as many slots as you like per round, but only your last entered race counts towards your score.
Points Changes
The points adjustment for GT1 League matchmaking that Polyphony introduced with Exhibition 1 continues here, with further adjustments to the system planned for future exhibitions.
Since all four rounds contribute to the final ranking, consistency matters more than a single standout performance. In the event of a tie, the tiebreakers cascade through highest individual round score, then highest single-round score, then DR, then SR, and finally account age.
Rewards
Credit rewards follow the same structure as Exhibition 1, with payouts distributed across Regional, Manufacturer, and Local rankings within each league.
GT1 players who finish in the top 5% across all ranking categories can pull in up to 8 million credits in total, while the GT2/GT3 ceiling sits at 4 million. Even a Bronze finish (top 75%) earns credits across each category, so there’s something on the table for anyone who completes the season.
Rewards are distributed at the end of the season and collected through Sport mode.
Round 1 at Suzuka gets underway on August 22.
See more articles on Gran Turismo World Series and GT World Series Exhibition Season.
