A year of racing in the Gran Turismo World Series Manufacturers Cup came down to a Mazda vs Porsche showdown in the final laps.
Shota Sato, José Serrano and Angel Inostroza have taken the 2025 Gran Turismo World Series Manufacturers Cup for German brand Porsche.
It could have gone the way of Mazda with Ryota Kokubun, Pol Urra and Samuel Cardinal. However, late-race contact resulted in a position loss for the rotary-powered car.
The World Final for the multi-driver Gran Turismo 7 competition was held in Fukuoka’s International Congress Centre, the city home to one of Polyphony Digital’s development studios.
Heading into the in-person title-decider, it was Subaru who sat atop the standings, having delivered strong results in the prior London, Berlin and Los Angeles events. Despite this, thanks to a format that included four points-paying races at the final gathering, there was no clear favourite.
Eventual champions Porsche encountered difficulties in the first race of the finale, caught up in an accident around the Daytona oval layout. Slewing off track, alongside title protagonist Subaru, fortunately for the Stuttgart brand, a red flag was flown and it was reinstated near the front of the pack.
Next, onto a wet Autopolis, and three-time Gran Turismo World Series title victor Serrano boldly went around the outside of Takuma Miyazono’s BRZ on the opening lap for second place.
The Spaniard then hunted down compatriot Pol Urra’s RX Vision GT3. Again, around the outside, he took the lead to win. A Porsche-Mazda one-two.
Then came the third race of the evening at the lesser-spotted Sardegna Road Track. A frenetic sequence of jostling meant Porsche could win again, but the Mazda team had a much harder time, making controversial contact with Nissan’s Mikołaj Sedziak. Consequently, the GT-R visited the gravel.
The Japanese marque was also nearly involved in an incident between McLaren and BMW, narrowly avoiding contact with the unforgiving circuit perimeter.
Meanwhile, ahead of the round, Honda’s Valerio Gallo had confidently predicted that his NSX would be quick around the Italian track – he wasn’t wrong, charging from ninth to second, and placing another car in between Porsche and Mazda.
20 laps to determine the champion
That meant it all came down to a 20-lap challenge around Abu Dhabi’s Yas Marina Circuit – the capital of the United Arab Emirates was announced mid-broadcast as the host for 2026’s Gran Turismo World Series opening round.
It was mandated that all three tyre compounds and team drivers were used, with both title-challengers opting to start the race on soft tyres, pulling a gap on the field.
Inostroza stayed out one lap longer on the first tyre set, but also picked up a 0.5s track limit penalty. It meant Mazda led, but during the middle-section medium-tyre stint, Serrano once again overtook (this time on Kokubun) for first position.
Towards the end of the race, those who had ditched the slower tyres early on were now charging, with both Mercedes-AMG and BMW closing on the top two, now hard-equipped.
It all came down to Turn 9, when Mazda’s Cardinal moved on Porsche’s Sato while under pressure from Mercedes’ Lucas Bonelli. Contact was made, the AMG half spinning. To his credit, the Spirit Racing entry seemed to lift initially, before continuing, only then to receive a two-second penalty.
It meant that Porsche won the race and the title, breaking the hegemony of Nissan, Lexus, Subaru and Toyota.
Gran Turismo World Series Manufacturers Cup 2025 final standings
- Porsche – 65 points
- Mazda – 55 points
- Subaru – 48 points
- BMW – 38 points
- Nissan – 32 points
- Lexus – 26 points
- Mercedes-AMG – 24 points
- McLaren – 19 points
- Honda – 17 points
- Toyota – 16 points
- Lamborghini – 9 points
- Ferrari – 4 points