Gran Turismo World Series Nations Cup: Spain dominate with Serrano, Urra one-two

No one could get close to the dynamic duo of Jose Serrano and Pol Urra at the first Gran Turismo World Series Nations Cup round – the two Spaniards working together until the final lap, when they opened themselves up to fight for the win.

Once again using the Adrian Newey-designed Gran Turismo Red Bull X2019 Competition car, the venue was the often overlooked reverse layout of Grand Valley Highway, not usually known for overtaking opportunities.

But the World Series drivers found space to make moves, often by rubbing against fellow Gran Turismo 7 competitors.

Thanks to a superb qualifying session and qualifying race (in Aston Martin Valkyries, keeping to the Newey theme), Serrano and Urra led the field away for the 30-lap main event. Drivers could use all three tyre compounds, but were only required to use two.

Pre-event, it was determined that the soft tyres wouldn’t last very long; however, a quartet managed to preserve the most fragile compound for a third of the race, meaning they could avoid the hard compound altogether.

The first to do so successfully was Italy’s Valerio Gallo and Takuma Sasaki. However, the two Spanish drivers were also on a similar strategy, and made their final pitstop one lap later. They then used their slightly fresher to make their way to the head of the field.

Up until that point, it had looked like France’s Kylian Drumont and Japan’s Takuma Miyazono – who won the Manufacturers Cup race earlier the same day – were in the hot seat, pitting with around a third of the race left for hard tyres.

But, as the crestfallen French supporters sat at the front of the arena soon realised, the two erstwhile leaders weren’t able to extract enough pace from that compound, and were powerless to prevent the four soft-runners from flying by.

Near the start of the race, the pace of the soft was shown by Dutch driver Kaj de Bruin. Starting in a lowly 10th, he made his way through the field in robust fashion. Picking up a one-second penalty for contact with Guy Barbara, he still made it to the front, but costly error robbed him of a clear chance of victory.

It crescendoed to a final lap showdown between Serrano and compatriot Urra. The latter, who is sitting business exams just days after the event, tried to make a move five corners from home and looked to have made it through, only to hastily apply the throttle. The subsequent bout of wheelspin let Serrano back through to claim the first victory of the season for Spain.

“It was really fun, but also really tough, especially with the middle stint,” said Serrano.

“But finally we did good work, Pol and myself, and we see the battle in the last lap.” 

Gran Turismo World Series 2025, Nations Cup, Round 1 London, results

1. Jose Serrano – Spain – 6 pts
2. Pol Urra – Spain – 5 pts
3. Valerio Gallo – Italy – 4 pts
4. Takuma Sasaki – Japan – 3 pts
5. Kylian Drumont – France – 2 pts
6. Takuma Miyazono – Japan – 1 pt
7. Thomas Labouteley – France
8. Samuel Cardinal – Canada
9. Kaj de Bruin – Netherlands
10. Guy Barbara – Australia
11. Angel Inostroza – Chile
12. Adriano Carrazza – Brazil