The schedule for the next stage of the Gran Turismo 7 Online Championship has been revealed, with another short Exhibition Series to occupy players ahead of the official 2023 season.
Just like “Season 1”, the “Season 2” of what’s still called the 2022/23 Exhibition Series is a short, three-race event in each of the two championships: Nations Cup and Manufacturers Cup. Each will run for two weeks, on successive Wednesdays in Nations and successive Saturdays in Manufacturers.
It’ll be Nations Cup action that gets us underway, on Wednesday January 25, with Manufacturers Cup following on Saturday January 28. The full calendar is as follows:
2022/23 Exhibition Series Season 2 – Nations Cup
- Round 1 – January 25 – Daytona Road Course/Gr.1 – 24 laps
- Round 2 – February 1 – Trial Mountain/Porsche 917LL – 15 laps
- Round 3 – February 8 – Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya National/Honda Fit Hybrid – 10 laps
2022/23 Exhibition Series Season 2 – Manufacturers Cup
- Round 1 – January 28 – Nurburgring GP/Gr.3 – 15 laps
- Round 2 – February 4 – Circuit de Sainte-Croix C/Gr.4 – 4 laps
- Round 3 – February 11 – Fuji International Speedway/Gr.3 – 17 laps
The races again seem to be generally straightforward, with mandatory tire requirements only for Manufacturers R1 and Nations R2. In fact the Nurburgring race has all three grades available, but only the Hard and Medium tire are required.
However the conditions for Manufacturers R3 raise an eyebrow. It’s the only race in which it’s specified that wet weather tires are available, and players have a full ten minutes in qualifying rather than the standard five (six at Sainte-Croix C). That could suggest the weather will have an impact.
As with Season 1, there’s ten entry slots available in each championship for each round. That means you’ll have up to 12 hours to get a race in, and although you can enter every slot it’s only your last entry that counts towards your score — and players will be ranked by their best single round from the three.
Entry Slot Timings (UTC)
- Asia (Nations): 0200, 0300, 0400, 0500, 0600, 1000, 1100, 1200, 1300, 1400
- Oceania (Nations): 0100, 0200, 0300, 0400, 0500, 0600, 0700, 0800, 0900, 1000
- Asia-Oceania (Manufacturers): 0400, 0500, 0600, 0700, 0800, 1000, 1100, 1200, 1300, 1400
- Europe/Middle East/Africa: 0800, 0900, 1000, 1100, 1200, 1400, 1500, 1600, 1700, 1800
- Central/South America (Nations): 1400, 1500, 1600, 1700, 1800, 2100, 2200, 2300, 0000 (+1), 0100 (+1)
- North America (Nations): 1600, 1700, 1800, 1900, 2000, 2300, 0000 (+1), 0100 (+1), 0200 (+1), 0300 (+1)
- Americas (Manufacturers): 1600, 1700, 1800, 1900, 2000, 2300, 0000 (+1), 0100 (+1), 0200 (+1), 0300 (+1)
You’re likely familiar with this by now, but the GT World Series operates on a bracket system. Players who have a Driver Rating of A or better will be in the “GT1 League”, those with a DR of B in the “GT2 League”, and those of DR C or lower in the “GT3 League”.
Only those players in GT1 League will be eligible for the finals events and the coveted “S” Driver Rating rank. We’re not expecting any invitations on the strength of this series, but then again we wouldn’t count it out entirely with the 2019 championship as precedent.
Although your Driver Rating may change across the course of the event, you will be locked into the League appropriate to your Driver Rating when you enter your first race in each championship. You’ll score championship points, relative to the Driver Rating score of all players in your particular race, no matter which League you are in.
We’re yet to see an official announcement of a 2023 championship and the posited expansion of the Gran Turismo World Tour back to multiple live events, but with the traditional start date being March to May, we’ll be watching for it any day soon.
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