The first-ever Gran Turismo World Series live event in Prague saw some of the closest finishes in series history, and at season’s end the two championships are still tied.

With the 2024 live events all featuring the same 12 racers in the Nations Cup and the same 12 brands in the Manufacturers Cup, and all three preliminary rounds awarding points towards the World Final, the European round was an opportunity for everyone to get into a good position.

It was another busy evening, with the two championship races taking place within three hours – hard work for the drivers, who did double the work – starting with the Manufacturers’ Cup.

Gran Turismo World Series Prague: Manufacturers’ Cup

Montreal was the event for Lexus, as outstanding driver Igor Fraga secured pole position in his real Super GT racing car and took the race win thanks to an unexpected pit strategy.

Although the three-time world champion was replaced by someone else, fortunes could not have been more different in Prague. Coque Lopez struggled on the wet Red Bull Ring and ended up 12th on the grid – behind reigning world champion Mateo Estevez in the Honda NSX, despite the Argentine driver receiving a one-second track limit penalty.

Pole position surprisingly went to Mohamed Buhdeima in the Ferrari 458 Gr.3. Not only is this car often referred to as too old by the community, but Buhdeima was also making his debut at a GTWS live event. He would line up ahead of fellow newcomers Benjamin Hencsei (who previously appeared in the Olympic Esports final) in the Porsche and Daniel Fenton in the Mercedes-AMG.

Much of the 24-lap race was about who could cope with the wet surface of the Red Bull Ring, and some of the established drivers found it very difficult.

Jose Serrano (Toyota) crashed early on when he threw off an evasive Thomas Labouteley (BMW) under braking for the fourth corner. Labouteley was also in trouble, having received a three-second penalty for contact with fellow countryman Kylian Drumont (Subaru) in the third corner. Lopez also dropped the Lexus under braking for the third corner, but did not lose too much in the process.

Ferrari and Porsche had a comfortable lead over the others, but the race didn’t really get going until the weather started to change almost two-thirds of the way through. Estevez, who had driven a cool, flawless race to put the NSX in fifth place, was the first to pit at the end of lap 17 and switch to intermediate tyres.

Surprisingly, the leader was next to finish, coming home in fourth place, which quickly became third as he was able to capitalise on his relatively small tyre advantage and overtake Rayan Derrouiche (Chevrolet) before a series of stops.

Nicolas Romero (Genesis) was the first to try slick tyres, switching to the soft variant on lap 20. Although he was not able to gain as much time immediately, it was the impetus for most of the rest of the field – at least for those who had not already opted for the intermediates – to follow suit. The leader Hencsei, however, did not switch until lap 23.

This gave him five laps to close the Ferrari’s almost ten-second lead, and although he started slowly, he got close. Very close, in fact, with three corners to go he was within striking distance. Budheima, however, stayed calm and positioned the Ferrari so that Hencsei could only use the still-wet surface with his slicks.

The result was one of the closest finishes in the series’ history, with the British racer just 0.092s faster than the Hungarian to secure a one-two for debutants. Labouteley secured the final podium spot despite earlier difficulties, while a point for Lopez keeps Lexus in touch with new leaders Porsche.

Results of the grand finale of the Manufacturers Cup

• 1 – Team Ferrari (Mohamed Buhdeima) – Ferrari 458 Gr.3 – 28 laps
• 2 – Team Porsche (Benjamin Hencsei) – Porsche 911 RSR – +0.092 seconds
• 3 – Team BMW (Thomas Labouteley) – BMW M6 GT3 – +8.067

Manufacturers’ Cup ranking (after two rounds)

• 1 – Team Porsche (Hencsei, Mosso, Sasaki) – 9 points
• 2 – Team Lexus (Fraga, Kawakami, Lopez) – 7 points
• 3 – Team Ferrari (Buhdeima, Hashima, Regalado) – 6 points

Gran Turismo World Series Prague: Nations Cup

Takuma Miyazono continued the form that earned him pole position and victory in Montreal with another pole position in Prague. Once again taking advantage of the X2019 competition, the 2020 champion beat the 2021 champion – Valerio Gallo – by just 0.035 seconds at Dragon Trail Seaside, on a grid that was less than half a second apart.

This set the starting grid for the qualifying race, which this time was a one-make race for the classic Honda RA272, Honda’s first ever Formula 1 winner. The race itself was a seven-lap sprint on the new Eiger North Face circuit, which you can drive yourself (at least for the next few hours) in Race C this week.

Overtaking on this tight track was challenging even with the relatively small cars and there were relatively few position changes – perhaps the most notable being when Takuma Sasaki overtook Calen Roach to secure a place on the podium. That didn’t stop drivers from trying though and a last-ditch effort from Gallo almost got him past a sideways Miyazono at the finish, with the two separated by just 0.035s.

Miyazono would then be back in the lead for the grand finale, but his lead did not last long as the battle with Gallo resumed. That was not quite the full picture though, as the opening and rather chaotic laps saw six cars vying for the lead.

Guy Barbara was caught off guard by last-placed Lopez, the only one to start on soft tyres. He made a mistake that proved fatal (and earned him a penalty) and Jose Serrano had to take evasive action. Robbie Heck and Adriano Carrazza also collided in an unusual spot, dropping both of them out of the top five.

Lopez, however, was looking for first place on the soft tyres and overtook Kaj de Bruin at the start of lap eight. Mission accomplished, the 2022-2023 champion took fresh medium tyres at the end of the lap to take the lead.

With a third of the race completed, the gap between the top eight was still less than a second until Angel Inostroza decided to drop out of the fight and rely on fresh, soft tires and clear air.

The undercut worked brilliantly for Inostroza and he was able to overtake the leaders, who stopped a few laps later. However, he then encountered Lopez, who was using the alternative strategy, and things went wrong. Perhaps in a hurry, Inostroza chose the wrong side and a swerve by the Spanish racer mid-corner resulted in the Chilean being thrown into the barriers on both sides.

Sasaki took the lead – despite having previously fought for it on his own – and made a long run on his first set of medium tyres. At the end of lap 20 he plunged onto the track as the eight cars behind him caught up and de Bruin decided to follow the Japanese driver for a final set of tyres. Strangely, the Dutch driver chose medium rather than the expected soft tyres.

This gave us an extraordinary showdown over the last nine laps, as de Bruin (the only rider now on medium tyres) took on Sasaki, Miyazono, Gallo, Serrano and, after a quiet race so far, Kylian Drumont. Even Lopez and Roach were not out of the race yet.

But even with these riders, the foursome’s energy didn’t last long – the slightest mistake was enough to have major consequences, and that was the fate of the hapless Serrano. After falling to last place in the opening laps, he took the lead with seven laps to go, but then fell back to the back of the pack.

Serrano braked just a touch too late for the chicane and allowed Drumont to pass, but in doing so Drumont clipped the Spaniard’s left rear and sent him deeper into the corner – no further action was taken, despite the incident being similar to one that led to Pol Urra’s disqualification in an online round…

Things got worse when Serrano rejoined the track, confusing the passing cars and in particular hitting Sasaki, who was going the wrong way and hindering Miyazono. Drumont, Gallo and Lopez thus formed the leading group, more than four seconds behind Robbie Heck.

The chaos wasn’t quite over though, as the trio battled right up until the closing stages. Things came to a head at the final corner when Gallo’s defensive line caused Lopez and Drumont to stumble over each other, sending the Spanish rider spinning. He was able to recover just in time to lead Heck over the line, and Gallo took the win ahead of Drumont.

Despite the chaos in the final corner, Lopez now leads the standings as he is the only rider with back-to-back podium finishes. Gallo jumps to second, while Miyazono, despite not scoring any points, is still third. Drumont, Serrano and de Bruin are tied for fourth with five points each.

Results of the grand final of the Nations Cup

• 1 – Valerio Gallo (Italy) – Red Bull X2019 Competition – 32 laps
• 2 – Kylian Drumont (France) – Red Bull X2019 Competition – +1.655 s
• 3 – Coque Lopez (Spain) – Red Bull X2019 Competition – +4,536

Nations Cup ranking (after two rounds)

• 1 – Coque Lopez (Spain) – 8 points
• 2 – Valerio Gallo (Italy) – 7 points
• 3 – Takuma Miyazono (Japan) – 6 points

There are still seven weeks until the final preliminary round of the season as the GT World Series heads to Tokyo. For the qualified brands and drivers, it is the last chance to score World Series points for the finale in Amsterdam in December, so there is sure to be plenty of action.

Tickets are now on sale for the Tokyo event, where we will see the last representatives of the 12 finalist brands of the Manufacturers Cup and the Nations Cup riders continue their battle. See you there on Saturday 28 September!

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