BERLIN, Germany— On Saturday 20 September, the Gran Turismo World Series made its way to Berlin, Germany—an iconic city steeped in history and beauty—for the second round of the thrilling international driving championship. The stage was set before a sold-out crowd at the Uber Eats Music Hall, where anticipation ran as high as the stakes. The day opened with the Manufacturers Cup—a fiercely unpredictable battle defined by daring pit strategies and split-second choices. Fresh off Subaru’s commanding triumph in Round 1 in London, all eyes turned to one of the team’s aces, Frenchman Kylian Drumont, as he carried the weight of expectation into Berlin.

Standing in his way was a field stacked with talent, such as Spain’s Jose Serrano (Porsche) and Pol Urra (Mazda), alongside lightning-quick newcomers, including Poland’s sensational rookie, Mikołaj Sedziak.

The Manufacturers Cup brings together the top-ranked manufacturers from the Online Qualifiers. Each of the 12 manufacturers is represented by a trio of elite drivers, one hailing from each of the Europe/Middle East/Africa, Americas, and Asia-Oceania Regions, chosen for their stellar performances during qualifying. In Berlin, all eyes were fixed on the twelve European contenders, as they took centre stage for the high-stakes Round 2 battle.

In qualifying, Subaru and BMW picked up where they left off, with Frenchmen Kylian Drumont and Thomas Labouteley placing their respective cars, the Subaru BRZ GT300 and BMW M6 GT3, on the front row for the Grand Final. Right behind them was the Porsche 911 RSR, piloted by Nations Cup points leader Jose Serrano of Spain—a proven champion of both the Manufacturers Cup and Nations Cup—while newcomer Poland’s Mikołaj Sedziak unleashed his raw pace in his Nissan GT-R Nismo, announcing his arrival on the world stage.

Grand Final: Nürburgring 24h, 6 Laps

The Grand Final was staged on the punishing Nürburgring 24h layout, a sprawling 25.3 km (15.7 miles) gauntlet with approximately 90 corners, where endurance and strategy matter as much as skill and speed. With regulations requiring every team to run at least one lap each on soft-, medium-, and hard-compound Dunlop tyres for the six-lap contest, the race became a high-speed chess match.

As expected, Drumont (R8G_Kylian19) and Labouteley (BSCOMP_Aphe) opted for the soft-compound tyres at the start, hoping to open a sizeable gap before switching strategies. Most of the next six starters chose mediums, with the lone exception of Nissan’s rookie Mikołaj Sedziak (MSedzzz_25), who rolled the dice with the hard-compound tyres. Was this a rookie miscalculation—or something more calculated?

The answer seemed immediate. Within the opening corners, Sedziak’s GT-R Nismo was overtaken by Valerio Gallo’s (OP_BRacer) Honda NSX, Pol Urra’s (PolUrra) Mazda RX-Vision, and Lucas Bonelli’s (RVT_BONELLI) Mercedes-AMG GT3, dropping Sedziak from 4th to 7th place in the blink of an eye.
By the end of lap 1, Bonelli—his fierce scowl and aggressive posture behind the wheel evoking a warrior in battle—decided to make his move. On the back straight, he sped past both Urra and Gallo with a single manoeuvre, vaulting his Mercedes-AMG into 4th place. Meanwhile, Drumont and Labouteley, after stretching a 4.2-second lead, dived into the pits, after the Nürburgring’s relentless layout took its toll on the soft tyres.

That handed the race lead to Jose Serrano (JoseSerrano_16), whose Porsche 911 was chased by Bonelli’s Mercedes-AMG, Urra’s Mazda, and Gallo’s Honda. Midway through lap 2, Urra and Gallo sped past Bonelli, but Serrano was out of range, having already built up a sizeable lead. At lap’s end, most of the medium- and hard-compound runners dived into the pits, save for the trio of Saudi Arabia’s Naif Alfaleh (Dstinct_Naif) in the Lamborghini Huracán GT3, Lexus driver Giorgio Mangano (GioMan_57) in the RC F, and Gallo, who chose to press on with their worn mediums.

For a moment, it seemed a masterstroke from the Italian driver, as Gallo, unshackled on a clear track, wrung every bit of performance out of his NSX. Meanwhile, the hard-charging Drumont was relentless, working his way up the field. He passed the Lexus, then the Lamborghini—dispatching both to seize P2. With his lead shrinking to 6.5 seconds, Gallo finally pitted, alongside Drumont, Labouteley, Alfaleh, and Mangano. Once again, the strategies diverged: Gallo switched to softs, saving the hards for the final stint, while Drumont and Labouteley took on the hards, aiming to run to the finish without another stop.

Lap 4 saw Serrano unleash his Porsche, extending his lead to 5.5 seconds, while behind him, Gallo’s gamble was unravelling—he couldn’t find his way around Urra’s Mazda, his hopes eroding with every corner. By the end of the lap, Serrano and Urra pitted, while Gallo had little choice but to press on, daring his soft-compound Dunlops to last one more lap.

But that decision proved costly. As the tyres on his NSX grip faded, Gallo fell back… and Sedziak surged, his GT-R Nismo flying on medium-compound tyres with a final stint of softs in hand. After the last pit stops, the running order was Subaru, BMW, and Porsche.

Rejoining the race in 6th place after his final pit stop, Sedziak charged with abandon, slicing past Kaj de Bruin’s (R8G_Kajracer) Toyota GR Supra, then Urra, then even Serrano’s Porsche, climbing to 3rd place!

But in the end, the day belonged to Kylian Drumont. Cool under pressure, precise in execution, he crossed the line first in the German dusk with his BRZ’s headlights showing the way, delivering Subaru its second consecutive Manufacturers Cup victory. Labouteley’s BMW once again followed in a well-earned 2nd place, while Sedziak’s astonishing drive earned him a podium in his very first live GTWS event.

With flawless control and nerves of steel, Drumont reminded the world why he is an Olympic champion and a threat to win any race he enters. He said after the contest: “The Subaru BRZ doesn’t have a great top speed, so I needed to get out ahead early, and stay away from battles. I was concerned at first with my strategy, especially when I had to deal with traffic, but as you saw, I pushed a bit here and there, and it all worked out. With this win, we have a good start to this season, with Takuma (Miyazono) winning and now me, so now it’s on to Round 3 in Los Angeles.”