The official esports season in Gran Turismo 7 is about to begin: The whole format and calendar has just been unveiled, only two days prior the first online race, planned for May 23rd. The format is changing a bit this year, and the structure overall seems more exciting.
Image Credit: Gran Turismo
The first major change concerns the Nations Cup: It moves from being an individual championship to a team effort - at least in the final stages of the series - just like in the original 2018 Salzburg event. This was something that was heavily suggested by the community and competitors, with third-party events like IGTL's own take on the Nations Cup showing the potential of having the public gather behind countries rather than individuals.
Meanwhile, the Manufacturers Cup retains the same format, which is now identical to Nations. However, the second major change is that the first part of the series, the online open league races, will not overlap with the Nations Cup on the calendar. While Nations will be ran through May exclusively, Manufacturers will be hosted through June.
August Showdown in Amsterdam
Both series will see an online Top 12 race after a streak of seven public online events, while two live events will be hosted for both series, and most likely the Toyota Cup as well. On August 11th and 12th, the World Series Showdown will be hosted in Amsterdam, and for the first time, the event will be open to the public. The World Finals will be hosted from 1st to 3rd of December in a yet undisclosed location: Monaco was the usual spot for the finals, but it could be possible that Polyphony Digital would try to save costs by hosting somewhere else this year.If you are interested in trying your hand, you just have to log on GT7, go into Sport Mode and race in the appropriate time slots for the open league races. Note that you will need to register in the GT1 league when you first sign up if you want a chance to qualify for live events, which means your driver rating needs to be at least A - but realistically you want to be at A+ to reach the best splits and score enough points to get selected for the next steps.
All details available here.
