Gran Turismo World Series Manufacturers Cup: Porsche doubles up, wins Round 2
Takuma Sasaki has won the second round of the 2026 Gran Turismo World Series Manufacturers Cup for Porsche, the German brand’s second win of the season.
Porsche has won two-from-two in the 2026 Gran Turismo World Series Manufacturers Cup, this time thanks to Takuma Sasaki.
It was victorious at the Milanese round earlier this year, when José Serrano finished first around a reversed Nürburgring.
That Gran Turismo 7 race was dry, although this one at a virtual Fuji International Speedway was not.
Sasaki qualified in second place for the 27-lap race, with Audi’s Sota Moriyama 0.1s quicker to secure pole position.
The Japanese driver would lead for one corner only, however, running slightly wide at the start of the event and allowing the 911 GT3 through to a lead it would never concede.
Moriyama would stay in second place until the final lap, dropping to third behind Lamborghini’s Yuki Kodaka. In a race that started in heavy rain conditions, before drying up, the Huracán driver opted for medium slick tyres, instead of the R8 driver’s soft option.
The softs dropped off in the final three laps, with second place decided narrowly across the line.
Elsewhere, Nissan’sHiroshi Okumoto and the Lexus of Kanata Kawakami opted for the full wet tyres at the beginning, as opposed to most of the field selecting intermediates.
By the ninth tour, however, while the circuit was still sodden, the rain had ceased. The intermediate tyre was now on the ascendancy, and Okumoto and Kawakami started to fall backwards. They pitted at the end of lap 11, risking it for slick medium rubber.
Those on intermediates were hunting for puddles off the main racing line to cool temperatures. Those on slicks were doing the inverse.
Subaru’s Souki Nabetani stayed out on inters even though it was dry, which didn’t work out. He eventually pitted for slicks at the end of lap 18, the last driver to do so on the now waterless surface.
Out front, Sasaki was peerless, extending Porsche’s early lead in the series standings.
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