Competitive races in Gran Turismo can be as fun as they can be frustrating. A key part of a good experience is to ensure matchmaking will put you with people you can safely race with that are on a similar pace level. Let’s see how you can ensure you get there as soon as possible.
How The Ratings Work
Gran Turismo uses two metrics to rank players: Driver Rating (DR), showcasing your performance level, and Safety Rating (SR), representing your ability to not cause trouble. Both are taken into account for every instance of matchmaking.
DR ranges from 0 to 100.000 points. Although the exact amount of points you currently have is not displayed in game (but you can use kudosprime to calculate it), a letter will be shown according to which bracket you fit in. The ranks are divided as follows:
| Rank | Driver Rating points |
| S | Star Players from GTWS live events |
| A+ | 50.000 – 100.000 |
| A | 30.000 – 49.999 |
| B | 10.000 – 29.999 |
| C | 4.000 – 9.999 |
| D | 0 – 3.999 |
| E | Players with less than 5 races |
DR follows an ELO rating system, just like what’s used in chess for instance: you increase your rating by beating an opponent and taking points from them, but if you are defeated, you give away points to your opponent. The exact formula used in Gran Turismo looks like this:
Winner gets: 80 – [(Your DR – Rival DR))/500]
Loser gives: 80 + [(Your DR – Rival DR))/500]
This is applied to every other person in the lobby who started the race. Basically, a 16 players lobby works like a set of 15 duels happening at the same time.
In addition, you will gain 1.500 points for increasing your rank. New accounts start at rank E but get 2000 points once they’ve completed 5 races. Note that your DR rank cannot increase beyond your current SR rank, but we will go back into this later.
SR works a bit differently. It only goes up to 99 points, and is not related to your finishing position. Every sector completed without any incident during a race will work towards increasing your SR, while track cuts, contacts with other cars (including bump drafting) and quitting races will deduct SR points. SR is divided in the following ranks:
| Rank | Safety Rating points |
| S | 80 – 99 |
| A | 65 – 79 |
| B | 40 – 64 |
| C | 20 – 39 |
| D | 10 – 19 |
| E | 0 – 9 |
Safety First
Your first priority is to get your Safety Rating up to the max. Matchmaking is decided by SR brackets first, then DR. Note that despite SR S starting from 80 points, there is a hidden subdivision, with the 90 – 99 points range being the top tier, as evidenced by top players missing out on top split action when falling below 90 SR in GT Sport. Sadly, there is no way in GT7 to know your precise SR rating number, but the system still works identically.
Getting SR S is critical to get access to the best lobbies, and as you start out, you should avoid contacts at all costs until you get there. The best strategy for that is to be as far as possible from other cars. If you’re fast enough to start first and pull a gap to your opponents, that’s the best case scenario. If you’re mid-pack though, you want to focus on taking evasive actions, even if that costs you positions: your first races will put you against beginners who might not have acquired enough experience in the solo career, or worse.
SR is fairly easy to obtain however. The positive thing is it should not take you long to get there, and you might even reach it as you complete your 5 initiation races. The downside is you can only really trust other SR S drivers. A driver who is stuck in SR A at best doesn’t have good situational awareness, and drivers below that rank are either unable to properly control their cars or outright evil.
In addition to all that, your DR is limited by your SR: you cannot increase your DR rank above your SR rank (a SR B driver cannot progress to DR A). Once you’ve reached a DR rank, you can lose SR up to a certain point before being punished: if you go 2 and a half ranks under your DR rank, you will suffer a “DR reset”, which can be particularly brutal. If you’re competing at the highest level, this can kill your chances at qualifying for a live event for the entire season.
Optimising Your Ascension
Climbing the ranks can be pretty quick if you plan carefully. There are multiple strategies you should implement if you want to be as efficient as possible.
The most consistent truth is that Daily Race C is the best to farm SR. The fact that it’s longer makes you activate more sectors per race, thus gain more points in a single event. The longer format also allows you to mitigate an unfortunate incident better.
When you successfully reached SR S, making sure you get a very good qualifying time becomes your first task of the week. As explained in our Daily Races guide, your time attack lap will determine your grid position in every race session you register for, and starting in front obviously makes everything much easier.
Now, which race is the best between B and C is situational. In theory, race B is better, because since it’s shorter, you can complete more races in a given amount of time, but in reality, it’s highly dependent on the combo’s popularity, your current DR and the time you’re racing at.
The more a race combo is popular, the more homogeneous the lobbies will be. This is accentuated by racing at prime time (evenings and week-ends, except when World Series races are occuring). This is desirable when you’re high A / A+ level, because it ensures you’re not getting matched with low-level people who won’t give you points, but could steal a lot from you if you run into issues.
On the contrary, racing the least popular combo and / or when most people are sleeping is the best way to access top splits when you’re at a lower level yourself, and put you in a situation where you can grab a lot of points from a high value opponent if you’re confident enough in your race pace. On a brand new secondary account, I managed to reach top split on my 7th race by running an unpopular combo at night. Facing and beating an A+ driver made my DR absolutely skyrocket that day!
Ultimately, when your rank has stabilised, Nations and Manufacturers Cup events will be the most rewarding races you can do. Of course, it will be more difficult to perform well there, but if you can get relatively consistently in the top 5, this is the quickest way to increase your DR at higher levels.
Focus On Your Strengths
While optimisation sounds attractive, you should also be realistic about your current abilities and take your time not only to improve, but also to figure out which cars and tracks you’re the best at driving. You may also find that your endurance skills like consistency, tyre and fuel management are better than your time attack skills.
All these parameters are ultimately as important as the rest, if not more, in your decision as to which race you should enter. Moreover, Sport Mode shouldn’t turn into a chore. There is no point forcing yourself into an event if you dislike the combo or format. If you need strategic elements to keep you entertained, by all means, focus on race C every week if you want to. If race B features your favourite car and track, do not pass up on it, even if it’s not the most efficient way to increase your DR, because it sure is more efficient than burning yourself out on stuff you don’t like.
Ultimately, simracing is a hobby and a passion, and it’s fine if you’re not a pro esports player or gold rated driver. There is fun to be had at every speed level, and nothing is best than being ranked accurately to your own skill and get close but fair racing.
