Gallo claims Gran Turismo Race of Champions crown
A first of its kind event saw Gran Turismo’s series champions from the first series in 2018 to the recent winners in Barcelona assemble in Tokyo for a one-off Race of Champions.
The driver line-up for the race was nothing short of elite, with the 12 participants holding 27 Gran Turismo world titles between them. Appropriately for such a field, the race consisted of a five-lap shootout at the Nürburgring 24h circuit, with mixed weather conditions and a very ‘Gran Turismo’ –style mix of performance road cars specially tuned to be roughly equal.
Mehdi Hafidi continued his 2023 form by taking pole position, but in the damp opening exchanges he was shuffled back as the mid-engined cars of Kylian Drumont, Mikail Hizal, and Takuma Miyazono hit the front.
Hizal took the lead starting the second lap, out-braking Drumont into the hairpin, and began to stretch his legs on the drying track as the battles erupted behind him. That also saw Fraga sneak up into second as the cars ran four-wide down Dottinger Hohe, and as the field pitted for slicks it was Hizal, Fraga, and Valerio Gallo making a break at the front.
The fast Angstkurve lived up to its name though, accounting for both Hizal and Fraga in successive laps while battling with Gallo, leaving the Italian free and clear to claim the crown as GT’s champion of champions.
Gran Turismo Race of Champions results
- Valerio Gallo (Nissan Fairlady Z) – 5 laps
- Igor Fraga (Honda NSX Type R) +2.174
- Mikail Hizal (Ferrari F40) +3.644