TOKYO, Japan (August 15, 2026)— Following the Manufacturers Cup, attention at Polyphony Digital’s headquarters in Koto-ku shifted to Round 2 of the 2026 Gran Turismo World Series Nations Cup. Unlike the season opener in Milan, the Tokyo event was held behind closed doors, with no live audience in attendance. Only the drivers, race officials, and competition rigs filled the studio at the birthplace of Gran Turismo.

The 12-driver field once again brought together some of the fastest competitors in the world, including defending Nations Cup champion Jose Serrano of Spain, two-time champion Takuma Miyazono (ZETA_Miyazono) of Japan, and former champion Valerio Gallo (SFE_BRacer) of Italy. Round 1 Sprint Race winner Samuel Moreno (S--Moreno) also returned after making an immediate impression in his GTWS debut in Milan, while fellow Spaniard Pol Urra (Falcon_PolUrra) remained another strong threat.
The Tokyo round opened with the Sprint Race, which carried no championship points but would determine the starting grid for the all-important Grand Final.

Sprint Race: Suzuka Circuit - 8 laps

The Sprint Race took place under sunny skies at Suzuka Circuit, one of Japan’s most celebrated racing venues. No pitstops were required, placing the emphasis entirely on speed, positioning, and the drivers’ ability to find a way past on a circuit where overtaking opportunities can be difficult to create.

As in Milan, the competitors were given a diverse collection of road cars rather than purpose-built racing machines. This time, the field consisted of performance icons from the 1990s and 2000s, including the Honda NSX Type R, Nissan Skyline GT-R, Ferrari F40, Lamborghini Diablo, Toyota Supra, and Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution V. With Balance of Performance adjustments applied, each car brought its own strengths and weaknesses to the eight-lap contest.

France’s Kylian Drumont (Vitality_Kylian) started from pole position in the Honda NSX Type R, alongside Gallo in a Honda S2000. Serrano (Falcon_Josete), driving the Nissan Skyline GT-R R34, lined up 3rd, with Japan’s Ryota Kokubun in the Ford GT completing the second row.

The two Hondas led the field cleanly through the first corner, with Drumont retaining the lead ahead of Gallo. The entire pack remained tightly grouped through the opening lap. With only eight laps available and no strategy calls or pitstops to alter the running order, the drivers knew they could not afford to wait long before making their moves.

Moreno, starting 5th in the Lamborghini Diablo, was among the first to attack. Early on lap 2, he slid his wide and powerful Italian supercar past Kokubun’s Ford GT to claim 4th place. Behind the leaders, the cars continued to run almost nose to tail, each driver searching for the smallest opening.

Serrano made his move later that lap. Using the draft along the back straight, the defending champion pulled alongside Gallo and powered his Skyline GT-R R34 into 2nd place. Drumont, however, was already settling into a commanding rhythm. By the end of lap 2, the Frenchman had opened a lead of more than one second, giving himself valuable breathing room over Serrano and the chasing pack.

By the halfway point, the difficulty of overtaking at Suzuka had become apparent. Despite the field remaining closely matched, the running order changed very little as the drivers struggled to get close enough to complete a clean pass through the circuit’s fast, flowing corners.

Moreno’s promising run unraveled when the rear of his Diablo stepped out through the first corner. He ran slightly off the track, losing enough momentum to fall from 4th to 6th. His situation worsened when race control assessed him a one-second penalty for contact with another car. The penalty dropped him another two positions and effectively removed the Spaniard from contention for a place near the front of the Grand Final grid.

Further back, Japan’s Miyazono quietly began working his way into the fight. The two-time Nations Cup champion had started 9th in the Toyota Supra RZ but climbed to 6th by lap 6, demonstrating the patience and precision that have made him one of the most successful drivers in GTWS history.

Pol Urra, driving the Porsche 911 GT3, refused to surrender the position without a fight. On the final lap, the Spaniard found a way back past Miyazono, reclaiming the place as the battle behind the leaders continued to the checkered flag.

At the front, however, Kylian Drumont remained untouchable. After establishing his early advantage, the Frenchman controlled the pace in the Honda NSX Type R and never gave Jose Serrano a realistic opportunity to challenge. He crossed the line to claim France the Sprint Race victory and, more importantly, pole position for the Grand Final.

Grand Final: Deep Forest Raceway Reverse - 35 laps

The Grand Final followed exactly the same format as the Milan opener. All 12 drivers climbed into the extraordinary Red Bull X2019 Competition, each car liveried in the colors of its driver’s nation. The race would be contested over 35 laps of Deep Forest Raceway in the reverse direction, with speeds exceeding 320 km/h on the straights.

Three Dunlop compounds—soft, medium and hard—were available, and every driver was required to use all three. The softs offered the greatest outright speed but were expected to last only around ten laps. Mediums provided a balance of pace and durability, while the slower hards demanded careful timing and damage limitation. Fuel consumption added another strategic element, ensuring that pitstop timing would be as important as raw speed.

Eight of the top nine starters began on medium-compound tires. Japan’s Takuma Miyazono, always the master strategist, was the exception, choosing the hards and committing himself to a very different opening stint. Other drivers farther down the order also started on the hard compound, hoping to clear the slowest mandatory tire early.

The start was clean, but Jose Serrano wasted no time making his intentions clear. He drafted Kylian Drumont along the back straight and swept into the overall lead. Drumont answered almost immediately, reclaiming the position one corner later. There would be no patient feeling-out process between these two. From the opening lap, they were going for blood.

Serrano retook the lead on lap 5. Behind him, Urra had already advanced two positions, climbing from 6th to 4th and placing himself in the heart of the lead battle. For the opening quarter of the race, the competition could hardly have been closer. Less than two seconds separated Serrano, Drumont, Gallo, Urra, Kokubun and Moreno at the front.

By lap 8, nearly all of the drivers who had started on the hard compound had made their first stops. Kaj de Bruin of the Netherlands and Guy Barbara of Australia switched to mediums for their second stints, while Lucas Bonelli of Brazil bolted on the softs and immediately began attacking. Miyazono alone remained on his opening set of hards, stretching the stint deep into the race.

Bonelli and Miyazono charged through the next phase of the race, both exploiting the grip of the soft compound to close rapidly on the cars ahead. Their pace added another layer of uncertainty to a contest that remained tightly balanced between outright speed and long-term tire management.

Samuel Moreno of Spain became the first of the leading group to make his next stop, pitting on lap 19 for hard tires and fuel. The rest of the front-runners followed during the same sequence. All but Gallo chose the hards; the Italian Stallion went in the opposite direction, fitting the soft compound and committing to an aggressive middle stint.

Once the pit cycle settled, Bonelli led Serrano, Drumont, Gallo, Miyazono, Pol Urra, Moreno and Japan’s Ryota Kokubun. Miyazono returned to the pits on lap 20 for his final stop and switched to mediums. He would now attempt to cover the remaining 15 laps without another visit to pit lane—a demanding task, but exactly the sort of calculated gamble for which the two-time champion had become famous.

Gallo made immediate use of his fresh soft tires. On lap 21, he swept past Serrano’s hard-shod X2019 along the front straight to claim 2nd. A few corners later, he dashed by Bonelli and seized the overall lead. The Italian Stallion was back in front, attacking with the same speed that had carried him toward a home podium in Milan before his final-lap heartbreak.

With his own soft tires fading, Bonelli made his final stop for fuel and hard-compound Dunlops. Gallo continued to press, and by lap 24 he had opened a five-second advantage. The margin looked impressive, but the strategy remained precarious. He still had to complete his mandatory hard-tire stint, while the closest pursuers would finish the race on the fastest soft compound.

On lap 26, Serrano, Drumont, Urra and Moreno dived into the pits together for their final stops. All four switched to softs for an all-out sprint to the finish. Drumont emerged ahead of Serrano, reversing their order and placing the Frenchman in the best position to attack Gallo once the Italian completed his final stop.

Gallo finally came in on lap 28. When he returned to the track, he still held a seven-second lead over Drumont and Serrano, but he was now on the slowest hard-compound tires with seven laps remaining. The equation was simple: Gallo needed to protect the gap, while the two former champions behind him had to erase it.

By lap 30, the lead had already shrunk to four seconds. Serrano drafted past Drumont on the front straight to claim 2nd, with the Frenchman immediately searching for an opportunity to respond. A prolonged battle between them would have played directly into Gallo’s hands, but both understood the situation. Rather than fight recklessly through every corner, they concentrated their attacks on the straights, minimizing their time loss while continuing to close on the leader.

Serrano caught Gallo on lap 33. Through the horseshoe corner, El Rayo de Granada finally forced his way past, but Drumont was attacking on the inside at the same time. Serrano’s X2019 slammed into the Frenchman’s car during the maneuver, and race control assessed the defending champion a one-second penalty.

The penalty transformed the final lap. When Serrano slowed to serve it, Drumont swept past, and Gallo followed him through. The loss of momentum proved disastrous for the Spaniard. Moreno and Kokubun also found their way by a few corners later, dropping the defending champion all the way to 5th.

At the front, Drumont completed a superb drive and took the checkered flag. After the disappointment of Milan, the Fast Frenchman had answered with a clean sweep in Tokyo—winning the Sprint Race from pole and then surviving a furious strategic battle to claim the Grand Final.

Gallo’s daring soft-tire middle stint and determined defense on the hards earned him 2nd, a satisfying recovery after the cruel ending to his home race. Moreno rebounded from his difficult Sprint Race to finish 3rd, securing his first Nations Cup Grand Final podium in only his second appearance. Kokubun claimed 4th in his home country, followed by Serrano and Urra in the final points-paying positions.

De Bruin, the Flying Dutchman, produced one of the strongest recovery drives of the event. Starting from the bottom of the grid, he fought his way to 7th, narrowly missing the points but once again demonstrating the grit and racecraft that had carried him into contention at Monza.

Tokyo changed the complexion of the young championship. Urra and Serrano remain firmly in the title fight after their strong Milan results, but Drumont’s victory, Gallo’s resurgence and Moreno’s rapid emergence have ensured that no one can claim control of the season. With Round 3 still to come in Singapore, the Nations Cup remains wide open.