Gran Turismo hopeful of FIA partnership, bigger World Series events in 2023
On the eve of the Gran Turismo World Series Nations Cup World Final, gaming series producer Kazunori Yamauchi clarified its current relationship with the FIA and its virtual motorsport plans for next season.

2018 witnessed the inaugural Nations Cup and Manufacturer Series (now Manufacturers Cup), two racing esports competitions within Gran Turismo tied to an FIA association. The aim is to find the quickest nation and car producer in the world, using the games as an esports platform.
They have returned each year since, initially using Gran Turismo Sport before transitioning to Gran Turismo 7 for this season.
However, the platform wasn’t the only change for 2022, as the championships no longer had an association with the governing body, despite it appearing within the game’s Brand Central.

Kazunori Yamauchi delivers the 2022 Manufacturers Cup trophy.
“We’ve always maintained a very good relationship with the FIA,” said Yamauchi-san.
“But the only reason why we had split this year, temporarily, was because the features that we had in mind on our side and the FIA’s side were different. There was a discrepancy.”
This follows reports earlier this year by Motorsport Networks’ Formula 1 editor Jonathan Noble after speaking to the FIA’s director of Formula E and Innovative Sport Activities Department, Frederic Bertrand.
“At the moment it is difficult, but they have been super honest with us, telling us they need to concentrate on that one first,” he said.
“So we said, 'okay, let's make it easy.' We need anyway something for Motorsport Games, so we said we have an alternative option. We will go on this one. And then we keep on going forward with development for 2023 with something which is at the level we all expect.”

Takuma Miyazono, Daniel Solis, Kylian Drumont won the 2022 Manufacturers Cup for Subaru.
The comments came after the use of Assetto Corsa Competizione, as opposed to Gran Turismo, for the recent esports section of the FIA Motorsport Games.
“The FIA has welcomed a new president and the organisation itself has changed,” continued Yamauchi-san.
“So, I think next year, I believe we will probably be working together again.”
World Series changes for 2023
It seems the FIA partnership won’t be the only element that changes for the World Series next year, either.
“In 2020 at the Sydney event, the scale of our World Tour event was around the scale of a Formula E event at the time in terms of viewership,” explained Yamauchi-san to Motorsport.com.
“But you know, not being able to do the live events after that, the viewership has dropped.
“We are restarting this year now. We used to host six events throughout the year, but now, you know, this year there’s been just two.

Gran Turismo World Series 2022 Manufacturers Cup trophy
“Next year, I would really like to see that we can do a bigger restart of the series.
“When you operate this type of event, you discover all these different types of issues and points of improvement that need to be worked on. We’ll definitely have a better event in the following year.”
Gran Turismo 7 has seen a tumultuous first nine months on sale from an online perspective, with features missing compared to its predecessor, GT Sport, and stability challenges. However, this has been improving, something the game’s visionary clarified to Traxion.GG yesterday.
“I think there is still lots more left to do for Sport Mode,” continued Yamauchi-san.
“We already have events like this [World Series], but I think there are more things that we can do on the code side to make it make it even better for this.”
Takuma Miyazono, Daniel Solis and Kylian Drumont won the 2022 Manufacturers Cup for Subaru following changeable weather conditions around Spa-Francorchamps on Saturday, ahead of the Nations Cup on Sunday.

WRT scores 1-2 win in wild Indy eX Prix
Ferrari reveals future ideas with 1030bhp Vision Gran Turismo car

Latest news
Bourdais “surprised” Cadillac was beaten on pace in Rolex 24
Chip Ganassi Racing ace Sebastien Bourdais has expressed surprise that the Acura ARX-06 outperformed the similarly new Cadillac V-LMDh around Daytona.
Rolex 24: Meyer Shank Racing wins again, leads Acura 1-2
Meyer Shank Racing scored its second consecutive victory in the Rolex 24 at Daytona with its Acura ARX-06 shared by Tom Blomqvist, Colin Braun, Helio Castroneves and Simon Pagenaud, leading home a one-two for Honda's prestige brand.
Stunning Porsche Rolex 24 comeback halted by technical gremlin at Daytona
Porsche’s Nick Tandy stormed back into contention for the overall lead fight in the Rolex 24 Hours at Daytona, only for his 963 to be struck by a technical failure that sent it to the garage.
Webber: Red Bull will remain "dangerous" threat in F1 2023 title fight
Mark Webber believes Red Bull will remain the “most dangerous team” in Formula 1 in 2023 despite facing penalties for its cost cap breach.
How an unlikely tie-up won sim racing's biggest prize
An unlikely partnership between World Endurance Championship LMP1 privateers Rebellion Racing and Williams Formula 1's highly-successful sim racing team yielded victory in the inaugural 24 Hours of Le Mans Virtual. Here's how it triumphed in the biggest sim race ever staged
How seriously should Esports be taken?
As interest in Esports has increased during the coronavirus lockdown, the lines have become blurred between what's real and what's virtual - especially when some high-profile participants seem to be playing for laughs, says Luke Smith
Why Abt's deception left Audi with no choice
Daniel Abt's suspension by the Audi Formula E team - and possible loss of his drive - for fielding a ringer in an Esports event could be considered an overreaction. But in a wider context, his employers had little other alternative
How Leclerc is embracing his new mission
The emergence of Ferrari F1 driver Charles Leclerc as a Twitch streaming star has been one of the pleasant surprises of lockdown so far. He says it is giving fans a greater insight into his nature, but that's not his primary purpose
Leclerc's Virtual GP annihilation deserves great credit
The introduction of Charles Leclerc, Alex Albon, George Russell and Antonio Giovinazzi to Formula 1's Virtual GP last weekend meant it was a step above the franchise's debut two weeks ago. But a dominant performance from Esports newcomer Leclerc stole the show
How the hidden side of being fast has been exposed
The lack of real track action so far this year hasn't stop drivers from keeping their racing brains 'fresh', as former F1 star Stoffel Vandoorne suggested last weekend.
Why entertainment isn't Esports greatest virtue right now
MotoGP's virtual #StayAtHomeGP was a sad reminder of some of the storylines that could be unfolding had the real-life season not been delayed indefinitely by the coronavirus pandemic. While we can bemoan Esports as being a poor relation of the real thing, it has an even more important function to perform
F1’s pantomime Virtual GP is fun but unsustainable
F1 Esports' inaugural Virtual Grand Prix last weekend provided brilliant entertainment to those tuning in to watch a mix of F1 drivers and celebrities battle on track, but was a missed opportunity for marketing its own Esports stars. A change of approach is needed if it is to successfully fill the void until the resumption of proper racing
Subscribe and access Motorsport.com with your ad-blocker.
From Formula 1 to MotoGP we report straight from the paddock because we love our sport, just like you. In order to keep delivering our expert journalism, our website uses advertising. Still, we want to give you the opportunity to enjoy an ad-free and tracker-free website and to continue using your adblocker.
You have 2 options:
- Become a subscriber.
- Disable your adblocker.