FIA-Certified Gran Turismo Championships

The FIA-Certified Gran Turismo Championships (also referred to as the FIA GTC) is a series of professional Gran Turismo Sport world championship esports tournaments, managed directly by Japanese game development studio Polyphony Digital and the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile.[1] The series uses Polyphony Digital's latest racing video game Gran Turismo Sport, and the championship contains two series that are held concurrently throughout the year: the Nations Cup (entrants from their respective countries will represent them) and the Manufacturers Series (entrants will race for and represent their chosen manufacturer). The winners of each series are given a TAG Heuer watch, and a glass plaque, and are also honoured at the FIA Prize Giving Ceremony.

FIA-Certified Gran Turismo Championships
Tournament information
LocationSpecified locations
Established2018
Administrator(s)Polyphony Digital
WebsiteOfficial website
Current champion
Takuma Miyazono (Nations Cup)
Mikail Hizal (Manufacturer Series)
Takuma Miyazono (Manufacturer Series)
Daniel Solis (Manufacturer Series)

All virtual races in the tournament take place in specified locations all around the globe. In addition to the live studio audiences at the specified locations, the tournaments are streamed live in YouTube through several languages. The series is currently sponsored by Toyota, TAG Heuer, and Michelin,[2][3] and the series is provided with clothing by Puma and peripherals by Thrustmaster.

The series has since made an impact in real-world motorsport, serving as a basis for virtual players in terms of possibly starting a career in esports before jumping into real-world motorsport.[4]

Format

Before the "Online Series" is started, every season begins with a "World Tour" event, containing the top drivers from the season prior. The winner from the World Tour event gains direct access to the "World Final" event.[5]

A phase dubbed as the "Online Series", which is essentially a qualification phase to decide the participants that will race in the live events of the championship tournament, kicks off every season. The Online Series is divided into four stages, with each stage hosting ten rounds.[6] By the end of each stage, another World Tour event is hosted, which includes the top players from that stage instead of the top drivers from the previous season.[6] The top players who are selected after the series must sign an application form in order to be able to participate for the World Tour events, and they must also be over 18.[6][7] The Online Series goes on for five to seven months.[6]

The "Live Events" begin after the Online Series. The Nations Cup category includes the top 90 players (30 per region) with the highest points across all four stages. Three different live events occur, with each live event carrying a specific world region. The top 10 players from those regions enter the "World Final" event, a championship stage to decide the number one player. The Manufacturer Series category includes the top 48 players (three players per region) and 16 manufacturers with the highest points across all four stages. The top players and manufacturers participate in the "World Final" event, to decide the top three players and the number one manufacturer.[8] The winners of their respective series at the "World Final" are crowned either Nations Cup champion or Manufacturer Series champion.

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, it was announced that the 2020 World Finals would be held as an online-based event.[9]

Media coverage

The FIA GTC races are usually streamed live in YouTube under the official Gran Turismo channel, and is available to watch through several languages. The commentator duos for the livestreams are Jimmy Broadbent and Tom Brooks (English coverage), Rene Buttler and Florian Strauss (German coverage), Donald Reignoux and Pierre-Oliver Valette (French coverage), Emilio Cozzi and Andrea Facchinetti (Italian coverage), Alberto Perez and Lucas Ordóñez (Spanish coverage), and Duarte Félix da Costa and Filipe Albuquerque (Portuguese coverage).

Event winners

There have been several event winners since the start of the FIA GTC at the "GT World Tour" event at the Nürburgring. Giorgio Mangano was the first Nations Cup event winner, and Philippe Nicolay, Matthew Thomas, and Anthony Duval, representing BMW, were the first Manufacturers Series Cup regional event winners.[10][11] Formula Regional driver and former USF2000 driver Igor Fraga became the first ever FIA Certified Nations Cup World Champion, and Kanata Kawakami, Vincent Rigaud, and Tyrell Meadows became the first ever FIA Certified Manufacturer Series World Champions for Lexus at the "World Final" event in Monaco 2018.[12][13][14]

Fraga, Hizal and Miyazono are the only FIA GTC event winners who have won both the Nations Cup and Manufacturer Series championships. Fraga is also the only event winner to have won a championship in both FIA GTC and in real world motorsport.[15]

Season Title Location Date Nations Cup Manufacturer Series Ref
2018 World Tour 2018 - Nürburgring Nürburg 10-13 May Giorgio Mangano Philippe Nicolay
Matthew Thomas
Anthony Duval
BMW [10][11]
World Tour 2018 - Red Bull Hangar-7 Salzburg 22 September Benjamin Bader
Patrik Blazsán
Adam Tapai
Mikail Hizal
Andrew McCabe
Nissan [16]
Nations Cup Asia/Oceania Final 2018 Odaiba 06-07 October Ryota Kokubun Not held [17]
Nations Cup European Final 2018 Madrid 19-20 October Mikail Hizal [18]
Nations Cup Americas Final 2018 Las Vegas 31 October Igor Fraga [19]
World Finals 2018 Monaco 16-18 November Igor Fraga Kanata Kawakami
Vincent Rigaud
Tyrell Meadows
Lexus [12][20]
2019 World Tour 2019 - Paris Paris 16-17 March Nicolas Rubilar Yoshiharu Imai
Thomas Compton-McPherson
Christopher Marcell
Aston Martin [21]
World Tour 2019 - Nürburgring Nürburg 21-22 June Igor Fraga Tomoaki Yamanaka
Rick Kevelham
Simon Bishop
Toyota [22]
World Tour 2019 - New York New York City 24-25 August Igor Fraga Cody Nikola Latkovski
Bernal Valverde
Anthony Felix
Mercedes-Benz [23]
World Tour 2019 - Red Bull Hangar-7 Salzburg 14-15 September Mikail Hizal Cody Nikola Latkovski
Tom Lartilleux
Anthony Felix
Mercedes-Benz [24]
World Tour 2019 - Tokyo Tokyo 26-27 October Ryota Kokubun Angel Inostroza
Tristan Bayless
Matt Simmons
Porsche [25]
World Finals 2019 Monaco 23-24 November Mikail Hizal Tomoaki Yamanaka
Rayan Derrouiche
Igor Fraga
Toyota [26][27]
2020 World Tour 2020 - Sydney Sydney 15-16 February Takuma Miyazono Coque López
Nicolas Rubilar
Randall Haywood
BMW [28]
World Tour 2020 - Nürburgring Nürburg 22-23 May Cancelled due to COVID-19 pandemic and postponement of 2020 24 Hours Nürburgring [29]
Nations Cup EMEA Regional Final 2020 Online 22 November Coque López Not held [30]
Nations Cup Americas Regional Final 2020 29 November Adriano Carrazza [31]
Nations Cup Asia-Oceania Regional Final 2020 6 December Takuma Miyazono [32]
World Finals 2020 19-20 December Takuma Miyazono Mikail Hizal
Takuma Miyazono
Daniel Solis
Subaru [33][34]

References

  1. "FIA-Certified Gran Turismo Online Championships now live". Federation Internationale de l'Automobile. 2018-06-21. Retrieved 2019-06-22.
  2. "Introducing the "GR Supra GT Cup" from TOYOTA GAZOO Racing, now an Official Partner of the FIA GT Championships! - Gran Turismo® Sport". gran-turismo.com. Retrieved 2019-03-28.
  3. "PlayStation and Michelin pair to make Gran Turismo more gripping". RACER. 2019-08-23. Retrieved 2019-08-23.
  4. "Gran Turismo Sport - exploring its impact on real-world racing with Kazunori Yamauchi". Evo. Retrieved 2019-06-22.
  5. "Nicolas Rubilar Wins GT Sport World Tour Nations Cup Final". GTPlanet. 2019-03-19. Retrieved 2019-03-29.
  6. "FIA Certified Gran Turismo Championships 2019 Series Overview - gran-turismo.com". www.gran-turismo.com. Retrieved 2019-03-29.
  7. "Star Player Registration Form". www.gran-turismo.com. Retrieved 2019-03-29.
  8. "FIA-certified Gran Turismo Championship 2018 Series Overview - gran-turismo.com". www.gran-turismo.com. Retrieved 2019-03-29.
  9. "Gran Turismo FIA Championship 2020 World Final Takes Place December 5/6". GTPlanet. Retrieved 2020-11-18.
  10. "'Gran Turismo World Tour 2018 - Nürburgring' Race Report (4/4)A miraculous race only made possible by master artists - gran-turismo.com". www.gran-turismo.com. Retrieved 2019-03-28.
  11. "'Gran Turismo World Tour 2018 - Nürburgring' Race Report (2/4)A miraculous race only made possible by master artists - gran-turismo.com". www.gran-turismo.com. Retrieved 2019-03-28.
  12. "The First Nations Cup Champion is Crowned! - gran-turismo.com". www.gran-turismo.com. Retrieved 2019-03-28.
  13. Lumb, Tim. "Brazil's Igor Fraga wins GT Sport Nations Cup World Final in Monaco". Autosport.com. Retrieved 2019-06-22.
  14. "Gran Turismo video game has its first ever FIA-certified champions". Sunday Times Driving. 2018-11-21. Retrieved 2019-06-22.
  15. "Esports star Igor Fraga wins TRS title". www.motorsport.com. Retrieved 2020-02-22.
  16. "Gran Turismo World Tour 2018 - Red Bull Hangar-7 - gran-turismo.com". www.gran-turismo.com. Retrieved 2020-02-15.
  17. "Nations Cup Asia/Oceania Final - gran-turismo.com". www.gran-turismo.com. Retrieved 2019-03-28.
  18. "Nations Cup European Final - gran-turismo.com". www.gran-turismo.com. Retrieved 2019-03-28.
  19. "Nations Cup Americas Final - gran-turismo.com". www.gran-turismo.com. Retrieved 2019-03-28.
  20. "The First Manufacturer Series Champion is Crowned! - gran-turismo.com". www.gran-turismo.com. Retrieved 2019-03-28.
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  22. "World Tour 2019 Nürburgring - gran-turismo.com". www.gran-turismo.com. Retrieved 2019-06-22.
  23. "World Tour 2019 New York - gran-turismo.com". www.gran-turismo.com. Retrieved 2019-08-24.
  24. "World Tour 2019 Hangar-7 - gran-turismo.com". www.gran-turismo.com. Retrieved 2019-09-14.
  25. "World Tour 2019 Tokyo - gran-turismo.com". www.gran-turismo.com. Retrieved 2019-11-01.
  26. "World Finals 2019 Monaco - gran-turismo.com". www.gran-turismo.com. Retrieved 2019-11-26.
  27. "'World Finals 2019 - Monaco' Results Report - gran-turismo.com". www.gran-turismo.com. Retrieved 2019-11-27.
  28. "World Tour 2020 Sydney - gran-turismo.com". www.gran-turismo.com. Retrieved 2020-01-25.
  29. "'World Tour 2020 - Nürburgring' Live Event Cancellation and Calendar Update - gran-turismo.com". www.gran-turismo.com. Retrieved 2020-03-20.
  30. "[English] FIA GT Championships 2020 | Nations Cup | Regional Finals | EMEA Region - YouTube". www.youtube.com. Retrieved 2021-01-04.
  31. "[English] FIA GT Championships 2020 | Nations Cup | Regional Finals | Americas Region - YouTube". www.youtube.com. Retrieved 2021-01-04.
  32. "[English] FIA GT Championships 2020 | Nations Cup | Regional Finals | Asia-Oceania Region - YouTube". www.youtube.com. Retrieved 2021-01-04.
  33. "[English] FIA GT Championships 2020 | Manufacturer Series | World Finals | Finals - YouTube". www.youtube.com. Retrieved 2020-12-19.
  34. "[English]] FIA GT Championships 2020 | Nations Cup | World Finals | Finals - YouTube". www.youtube.com. Retrieved 2020-12-20.
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