The 2026 Gran Turismo World Series will once again return home for its grand final, with the host city for the season-ending spectacular now confirmed as Tokyo.
With three-quarters of the schedule now inked in, Tokyo stands out as being the first repeat location for the GT World Series in two seasons — since Amsterdam hosted the 2024 World Final after staging the 2023 Showdown — and it probably comes as little surprise. After all, Tokyo is the home of Gran Turismo itself and the event should afford the attending competitors a chance to visit the Polyphony Digital main studio.
It’ll be the first season that the same country has hosted two World Finals in a row since the World Series left Monaco behind after the 2022 finals, with Barcelona, Amsterdam, and Fukuoka taking on the role since. Tokyo has also previously hosted a round in 2024, as well as staging a regional final in the former World Tour guise back in 2019.
There’s no information on a specific venue yet, but we do know that it’ll be a slightly earlier event than the 2024 final, coming on the weekend of December 5-6, which should make for a kinder travel schedule than the pre-Christmas event in Fukuoka.
We already knew that the 2026 World Series will kick off by breaking new ground as the event heads to the Middle East for the first time, with Abu Dhabi hosting Round 1 on March 28. It’ll be the first official GT event held there in over a decade, after the GT Academy Race Camp was based in the Emirates and with the final race — won by France’s Romain Sarazin — held at Yas Marina Circuit.
The Abu Dhabi event won’t be too far away, with the Space42 Arena in Al Raha Beach on hosting duties. That’s just about a mile from the circuit, which was added to Gran Turismo 7 in December, and although that distance is mostly water (it’s about five miles by road) we can imagine some associated activity for the competitors and attending influencers and media at Yas Marina.
Tickets are already on sale for this one, to be held on March 28, with regular entry coming in at 130 AED ($35) and a Premium option offering seating nearer the front at 150 AED ($41).
In addition to the announcement of Tokyo as the finals host, we’ve also learned today the location of the second round. That’ll be held on May 23 in another new city — and indeed country — as Milan, Italy makes its GTWS debut. The specific venue has yet to be confirmed however.
Also pencilled in with a “TBA” is the date and location of the third round. All we know thus far is that it’ll be somewhere in the six months (and a bit) between Milan’s Round 2 and the final in Tokyo, but we will note that there’s never been a full season with live events held in fewer than three continents or without an event in the Americas.
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