Nations Cup is one of the two main Gran Turismo official esports series. As the name implies, it tries to represent multiple nations and oppose the best simracers from their respective countries. Let’s see how that works.
The Online Season
Everything starts from the comfort of your home. In Sport Mode, you will find a section dedicated to the World Series, which includes Manufacturers Cup events. In between official seasons, you will find exhibition seasons, which are good to get familiarised with the whole concept.
The game will automatically prompt you to register and ask to fill in your personal information the first time you visit this menu each season, then ask you to select which brand you want to race for. A Gr.4 and a Gr.3 car will be loaned to you for the season (you might need to pick one of each if multiple choices are available). The cars will stay in your garage even after the season, until you sign up for another manufacturer during another season.
Manufacturers Cup’s online season is indirectly a team effort: you try to reach the top of your manufacturer in your region while aiming to also score well in the regional standings. But only 12 manufacturers can qualify for the Live Events, meaning there’s more at play than your own performance for qualification – but more on that later. Eligibility varies depending on where you are located, but in general, you need to have reached majority if you want to be able to participate in live events. Online seasons are open to everyone however.
Servers are divided between different Global Regions: Americas, Europe / Middle East / Africa, Asia-Oceania. You will only race people from the same global region during the season, and all regions have completely separate rankings.
Your Driver Rating at the time of registration will decide which league you will race in. DR C or below gets you in the GT3 league, DR B gets you in GT2, while DR A or more gets you in the GT1 league, which is the only one that gives you a chance to qualify for the finals. Make sure you have progressed to a rating that feels adequate to your level before registering !
There are 4 tiers of ranking, including the global region ranking (Regional), national rankings (Domestic), and two levels of more local rankings (Main / Secondary Area). If you finish high enough in any of them at the end of the season, you will be rewarded with in-game credits rewards. Gold reward is obtained for being in the top 5%, Silver from top 25%, and Bronze from top 75%.
Regional rewards are higher than Domestic rewards, which are higher than Local rewards, and the GT1 league doubles the payouts compared to GT2 and GT3. They are all cumulative within a league though, which means you can get up to 9 million credits at the end of an online season.
The season is divided into multiple rounds (6 in 2024), and taking part in races is a similar process to Daily Races, but the number of sessions available is much more limited. Each round is hosted on a single day, with only a few slots open at predetermined hours – with the GT1 League having less of them (3 only for the 2024 Online season, compared to 10 slots for GT2 and GT3).
You can race every slot if you want, but only the last race you entered counts for your championship points. So if you get good points in the first slot, running again is a gamble, putting you at risk of losing everything.
Individual driver points are calculated according to the average DR in the lobby and distributed according to finishing position. So the stronger the opponents, the more points are up for grabs. On top of that, not all rounds count towards the final rankings, with only your best rounds being retained (in 2024, that was your top 3 best results over 6 rounds).
Manufacturers points within a region are awarded by ranking them with the following method: for each round, the best scorers of the day for every individual brand are taken into account, and a ranking is established. Manufacturers score Manufacturers Ranking Points according to that, and all 6 rounds are tallied at the end of the season. Manufacturers Ranking Points from all regions are added together to provide a global international ranking, which decides which brands get represented during Live Events.
Regarding the race format, Manufacturers Cup is pretty straight forward: Gr.4 and Gr.3 are the only classes used, under the game’s Balance of Performance and fixed setups. Gr.4 has been phased out of Live Events however due to the difficulty of balancing them, so don’t be surprised if in the future, even the Online Season becomes an exclusively Gr.3 series.
Politics And Strategy
Manufacturers Cup is not as straightforward as Nations Cup can be when it comes to getting your invitation to race in Live Events. You could rank 1st in your Manufacturer and region during the online season, yet not be selected to participate in the next step because the brand you raced for didn’t score points in the other regions.
This is why top players network a lot before the official season starts, trying to make alliances with people from other regions. The parameters here are difficult to balance. Do you want to pick a less popular manufacturer, with the risk of having less competent teammates in the 2 other regions?
Do you think your skills are recognized well enough to convince top drivers from other regions to join you in your choice? Is the popularity hierarchy even the same between the different regions? Or maybe are you confident enough to fight the best drivers for the top spot? Can you communicate with your potential teammates to practice and build race strategies together?
All these questions are confronted to your knowledge of the scene, like who is going to focus on Nations Cup instead, who has been consistently selecting the same manufacturer for the past years, who’s friends with who… while also dealing with people keeping their intentions secret, lying even, and keeping an eye on the new talents. Knowledge is power there.
To complicate things even further, the Manufacturers Cup has 3 Official Partners who automatically get a spot: Toyota, Mazda and Genesis. Ranking 1st for any of them guarantees you access to the live events, but these brands are also selected by the very best, who are extremely confident in their ability to win and build up international dream teams to increase their chances of performing well in the Live Events, so competition there is the toughest. That means only 9 other manufacturers are effectively picked via the online season’s Manufacturers Ranking Points.
The Live Events
After the online season, the best drivers from selected manufacturers in each region get selected to participate on stage in Live Events and compete for the World Championship. Of course, you need to fit within eligibility criteria, otherwise the next person in line will take your spot instead. Unlike Nations Cup, there is no limit per country, so technically, you could see a Japanese driver in all of the 12 teams for example. Some drivers elect to skip Nations Cup and focus on Manufacturers Cup instead because of that, as it is easier for them to avoid their equally fast co-nationals by picking a different manufacturer.
The live format of Manufacturers Cup has consistently been a team championship with 3 drivers racing together. 2024 however introduced a bit of a change: the first 3 rounds see the region’s drivers competing individually, and scoring points for the team. Only the World Finals will see them all together for an endurance race with driver swaps.
Live Events now only use Gr.3 cars, and for the brands with multiple cars on offer, the most modern one is imposed on the team, even if they used another one during the online season. The only non entirely obvious choice comes from Peugeot, where the fictional RCZ Gr.3 is picked over the fictional VGT Gr.3 car, affectionately nicknamed “wide boy” by the community.
For 2024, only one Online Season was used to select the 36 drivers who would take part in this year’s 4 Live Events. Round 1 to 3 were hosted respectively in Montreal, Prague and Tokyo, while the upcoming World Finals are scheduled to happen in Amsterdam – the city where Polyphony Digital’s European office is located – on December 7th and 8th.
All drivers travel expenses are managed and covered by Polyphony Digital, and get to race in standardised rigs with Fanatec GT DD Extreme kits in front of an audience. Each round features a qualifying session and two races, with race 1’s results counting as starting order for race 2. Top 6 manufacturers in each round before the World Finals scored points that will add up to their final score, with the Amsterdam Live Event being effectively its own mini-championship. While this provides a decent advantage to some drivers, in theory everyone is still in line for the title of Nations Cup World Champion.
Live Events broadcasts are accessible directly from the game, and also on Gran Turismo’s official Youtube channel in multiple languages (English, French, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese and Japanese), with commentators coming from the racing and simracing world such as Jimmy Broadbent and Tom Brooks in the English booth. You can even get in-game rewards for watching and predicting the winners!
The Top Teams
This year’s Manufacturers Cup grid features a lot of returning talents, including current Nations Cup competitors, mixed in with new faces. This year’s dynamics have been pretty interesting so far.
Team Lexus:
Has been a clear favourite this season. The car is strong, and the driver lineup is made of Gran Turismo stars. Igor Fraga is a 4 time Gran Turismo World Champion, and has been recognized as a top driver in the community since the early days of Gran Turismo 5. Igor is also a real-life racing driver, who has competed in multiple open wheeler series, raced against the likes of Liam Lawson, and currently drives a Lexus GT3 for Anest Iwata Racing in Super GT.
This pushed him to switch from Toyota to Lexus in Gran Turismo, an event which prompted two other champions into joining the effort: Coque Lopez, with 2 Nations Cup and one Manufacturers Cup title under his belt, and Kanata Kawakami, with a Manufacturers title to his name. Unfortunately, Igor Fraga will not be present for the World Finals, replaced instead by Harald Walsen, a Chilean driver, due to a clash with the Super GT calendar.
Team Porsche:
Doesn’t necessarily has the same level of prestige, with all drivers being pretty new to Live Events, but the 911 RSR is the best cornering machine under the current BoP, although a bit lively. Takuma Sasaki is their most experienced driver here, with an impressive win ratio, but Benjamin Hencsei has a lot of community racing experience and is supported by the solid IGTSH Hungarian community: he scored a beautiful second place for his first ever race on stage. Arthur Mosso might not have front-pack pace, but he’s still a good asset for the team with a sense of strategy and a clean racing style. Moreover, if rain is involved, the Porsche will only be truly rivalled by the Ferrari.
The BMW M6 GT3 Team:
Has benefited from the latest BoP and physics change and became a better car than expected. It is the fastest on some tracks over a lap, although its power delivery can be quite brutal out of corners. The drivers are not necessarily who people would have bet on to come as 3rd going into the Finals, but they shouldn’t be underestimated. Calen Roach is also currently qualified in Nations Cup, and Seiya Suzuki can definitely drive fast enough to win races.
But the strongest element in that lineup is Thomas Labouteley, a frenchman whose only obstacle into Nations Cup is the funnel imposed on France and Europe for the number of available spots. Thomas has been progressing consistently through the years in IGTL, and keeps getting faster in the World Series.
Team Mazda:
Benefits from a great driver lineup. Robert Heck is currently the best active US player in Nations Cup, but in this team, he’s more going to be relied on for his strategies. The other 2 drivers might not be part of Nations Cup this year, but they are both among the fastests this platform has ever seen.
Pol Urra is Spain’s rising young talent, pretty much on par with Coque and Josete, and the only reason he’s not driving in the other series is only 2 spots were available for Spain, and luck wasn’t on his side. He is an absolutely phenomenal driver with a Nations Cup title earned in his rookie year.
Ryota Kokubun on the other side is a Gran Turismo and a veteran, considered as one of the “aliens”. He is an absolute Mazda fan, although his Manufacturers title was obtained with Nissan. Team Mazda is one to pay attention to – the RX Vision’s insanely loud 3 rotors engine will not let you ignore it anyways.
Team Honda:
Keeps being carried by the incredibly talented Italian driver and unconditional Honda fan Valerio Gallo. The NSX is basically a Ferrari with low top speed that’s harder to drive, but it could benefit from wet conditions. Despite that, Team Honda is currently tied on points with the Italian manufacturer. Vale is supported by Mateo Estevez, who won last year’s title with team Nissan, and Soki Nabetani, a World Series newcomer with good results in past national competitions.
The Scuderia Ferrari’s:
Current position in the standing is not reflective of the 458 GT3’s performance. It is an extremely well balanced car, probably the easiest to drive on the grid, has good dry pace and the best pace in wet conditions. Alonso Regalado’s pace is unfortunately not a match for the aliens, and his teammates are both completely new to World Series, both having raced for the first time this year. Jun Hashima is a karting driver in real life, and is probably still adjusting. Mohamed Buhdeima however didn’t need time to adjust, giving the team its 6 points by scoring a hat trick on his first event.
Subaru and Toyota:
Are tied for the biggest disappointments so far this season. Subaru’s driver lineup is a true dream team, with Angel Inostroza, Kylian Drumont and Takuma Miyazono sharing 4 titles between them (some fans might say 5 due to the 2022 Nations Cup controversy).
Angel has suffered from bad timing, having to race round 1 while recovering from a bad injury, and Kylian struggled with his strategy in round 2, leaving Miyazono as the only points scorer so far. But you should expect a great performance from their combined efforts during the Finals, as their strengths have the potential to combine perfectly into a race win.
Toyota’s 8th position in the general standings is even more surprising, as the car is an absolute dragster in straight lines with good overall lap times, and is supported by another all-stars set of drivers. The most unexpected event was Jose Serrano not scoring any points, due to on-track incidents. He is accompanied by Adriano Carrazza, a fast but very aggressive driver, and Tomoaki Yamanaka, one of the most experience Japanese drivers with 2 Manufacturers trophies with his name on it. Josete has the pace and a revenge to take, and Adriano needs no excuse for a divebomb, so watch out for the Toyota in the Finals!
Team Genesis:
Provides their drivers with a pretty big car to manoeuver around. It’s not bad at all, but fairly heavy, and is commonly compared to the Bentley Continental GT3 by the community. The team revolves around Nicolas Romero, one of the top Spanish drivers who decided to focus on Manufacturers Cup, and who’s famous for his hand waves on camera during races.
Dean Heldt is also a very solid American driver who opted out of Nations Cup this year, he’s been driving the Genesis since its introduction in GT7, although that experience didn’t translate in round 1 this year. Yuito Sasaki, another youngster coming from Japan’s national scene, completes the trio.
Team Mercedes:
This year is suffering from Baptiste Beauvois’ absence, and their top online driver in Europe being underage. Daniel Fenton takes that spot by default: he has some margin to progress, and the World Finals will be a great opportunity for him to learn from experienced drivers. Guy Barbara is the best Australian driver out there, fast, strategic but always cheerful and willing to help. Lucas Bonelli remains the most experienced driver with Mercedes however, and also in general. His pace can definitely put him in podium fights.
Team Chevrolet:
Is running a Corvette C7, which strengths reside in a fairly good chassis and a wide powerband that makes it one of the best endurance cars, with the possibility to short shift a lot for fuel management while barely losing any acceleration. Although they didn’t have any success yet, the drivers could put on a good show for the last 2024 event.
Antonio Santos will be jumping in the seat for the first time, after having to be replaced by Rayan Derrouiche for round 2. Since then, he finally turned 18, and is eager to show the world the speed he developed in IGTL. Donovan Parker will not be as flamboyant, but he has a bit of experience and proved he can be consistent, a quality which pairs well with the Corvette. Yusuke Goto is more of a time attack specialist who’s new to Live Events, so releasing him in clean air would probably be the best bet for the team.
Team Audi:
Completes the list of team with a set of 3 inexperienced drivers. All of them are new to Live Events, with Nicolás Arriagada representing Chile, Daniel Penco representing Spain, and Ryo Kumata replacing Shota Sato to represent Japan. The R8 LMS is not as good as the Porsche or Ferrari, but it’s good under the rain. Team Audi is definitely not a favourite for the win, but the World Finals team race is always eager to provide drama and surprises, so if you’re a fan of the 4 rings, make sure to cheer loudly!
