Gran Turismo previously announced that the FIA-backed Gran Turismo Championships would be returning with the exhibitions starting on the 27th February. However, Polyphony Digital has now announced some additional details that affect how the series will be run in 2021.
Region Changes
There have been fairly substantial changes to the Manufacturer Series qualification. Instead of the previous five regions, this now being reduced to three regions to simplify the process. Rather than whittling down the number of drivers for a manufacturer from five to three after the rankings, this will balance the competition from the beginning.
This will see the Americas becoming combined. The same for Asia and Pacific nations. You can see the full list of regions on the Gran Turismo site.
Race Times
Although the series retains the Wednesday and Saturday format (at least for the exhibition series), the timings have been updated. The timings update will affect both the manufacturers and nations championships with now five slots available for each region (down from six) – the exception being Oceania, with only three slots for the Nations Cup. Races are scheduled 80 minutes apart in each region.
Currently, there is no scheduled time period for a “Top 16 Superstars” event so it remains to be see how that fits into the puzzle!
Listed below are the times confirmed on the Gran Turismo website.
Nations Cup Times
Europe/Middle East/Africa Region
- Wednesdays: 16:00, 17:20, 18:40, 20:00, 21:20 UTC (5 races in total.)
- Saturdays: 14:00, 15:20, 16:40, 18:00, 19:20 UTC (5 races in total.)
North America Region
- Wednesdays: 16:00, 17:20, 18:40, 20:00, 21:20 PST (5 races in total.)
- Saturdays: 14:00, 15:20, 16:40, 18:00, 19:20 PST (5 races in total.)
Central and South America Region
- Wednesdays: 18:00, 19:20, 20:40, 22:00, 23:20 (BrasÃlia time) (5 races in total.)
- Saturdays: 17:00, 18:20, 19:40, 21:00, 22:20 (BrasÃlia time) (5 races in total.)
Asia Region
- Wednesday: 19:00, 20:20, 21:40, 23:00, 00:20 JST (5 races in total.)
- Saturday: 18:00, 19:20, 20:40, 22:00, 23: 20 JST (5 races in total.)
Oceania Region
- Wednesdays: 19:00, 20:30, 22:00 AEDT (3 races in total.)
- Saturdays: 18:00, 19:30, 21:00 AEDT (3 races in total.)
Manufacturer Series Times
Europe/Middle East/Africa Region
- Wednesdays: 16:00, 17:20, 18:40, 20:00, 21:20 UTC (5 races in total.)
- Saturdays: 14:00, 15:20, 16:40, 18:00, 19:20 UTC (5 races in total.)
Americas Region
- Wednesdays: 15:00, 16:20, 17:40, 19:00, 20:20 PST (five races in total.)
- Saturdays: 13:00, 14:20, 15:40, 17:00, 18:20 PST (five races in total.)
Asia-Oceania Region
- Wednesdays: 21:00, 22:20, 23:40, 01:00, 02:20 AEDT (5 races in total.)
- Saturdays: 20:00, 21:20, 22:40, 00:00, 01:20 AEDT (5 races in total.)
