Earlier this week, we took a good look at the GR 86, Toyota’s version of the second generation of the rear-wheel drive coupe and boxer was developed in partnership with Subaru. It turns out that Toyota shares a close partnership with Gran Turismo, and the manufacturer’s Gazoo Racing division wasted no time in announcing that the GR 86 is coming Gran Turismo Sport still this year.
As the GR Supra and GR Yaris before that, the GR 86 will be an essential part of Toyota’s Gazoo Racing GT Cup in Gran Turismo Sport. This championship, now in its third year next to Gran Turismo’s usual Nations Cup and Series of Manufacturers supported by FIA, sees competitors competing in brand races starring Toyota sports cars.
Qualifying rounds for the Gazoo Racing GT Cup 2021 start in a little less than three weeks, on April 25, and will run until August. The world final, with 24 qualifiers divided into five regions, will take place in December with a combination of car and track yet to be confirmed.
The GR 86 will join the party in the last qualifying round, planned for August 22 and set on the Mount Panorama circuit in Australia. However, the car will probably be introduced into the game before that, judging by Gazoo Racing’s announcement:
In addition to GR Supra and GR Yaris, the recently announced GR 86 is scheduled to be launched in the middle of the year. By varying the car models for each round, players can enjoy virtual racing with a variety of cars, something that is difficult in real life motorsports.
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GR 86 has always been intended for inclusion in Gran Turismo, given the proximity of Toyota and GT developer Polyphony Digital has worked in recent years. Still, the fact GT Sport should receive even more free content in 2021, after getting a handful of new cars in 2020 is a good surprise. After all, the game was released in 2017, and it’s reasonable to think that Polyphony can focus all of its efforts on getting Gran Turismo 7 through the finish line at this point.
But GT Sport has set a precedent for annual championships, and new vehicles like the GR 86 present an excellent way to garner enthusiasm and participation for such events. Toyota notoriously avoided lending its licenses to other racing game franchises over the previous generation, leading to the following excluded classic interaction between the UK carmaker division and a fan who wondered why the company was missing Heat Speed Need in 2019.
O NFS the crew had a very good answer for this.
Since then, Toyota has returned to series that are not Gran Turismo with a considerable debut in Forza Horizon 4 in 2019 and inclusion last year Project Cars 3. Nonetheless, Gran Turismo you still get the latest sports cars from the company first. Among racing console titles, GT Sport is the only game that features GR Yaris, and the only one next door Project Cars 3 to have the GR Supra.
While the race genre looks pretty much asleep for 2021, since GT7 and the Next NFS have been delayed and there is Forza in sight, it’s nice to see the existing games still getting a little bit of support here and there. As for those who are looking forward to the GR 86 and new BRZ fighting on the Tokyo Expressway course, you’ll probably have to wait until GT7 lands to see that battle.