The TOYOTA GAZOO Racing GR GT Cup is on again with the culmination of the seventh season taking place this weekend. The top sim racers in the country will gather for the Grand Final on July 27 & 28 at the Sunway University Campus in Bandar Sunway, Selangor.
Organized by UMW Toyota Motor, it is the most lucrative simulator racing event in the country with a total prize pool of RM120,500 this year.
The event will start tomorrow with semi-finals from 20 contenders to determine the 10 drivers who will fight it out in the Grand Finals on Sunday. The 20 contenders were the fastest among almost 1,000 participants who took part in qualifying rounds which began in June.
The fastest 10 contestants will compete in 3 individual races to score points with the champion being the one who scores the most.
As in previous years, the realistic racetracks will be venues like the Alsace track in France, Deep Forest Raceway in Switzerland, Monza in Italy and the 13.6-km long Circuit de la Sarthe in Le Mans, France. The Deep Forest Raceway and Alsace circuit are fictional circuits created for the Playstation Gran Turismo racing simulator games, but Monza and the Le Mans circuit are real tracks.
While various high-performance models have been used in the qualifiers, for the Grand Finals, the racers will use the GR Supra Racing Concept and the GR010 Hybrid Prototype used in endurance races.
Back in the chase is Taj Aiman Taj Midra, a veteran sim racer who will be aiming to collect his fourth championship title. He will be challenged by competitive drivers like Dhanesh Wigneswaran who was last year’s runner-up, and Muhammad Iqbal, the 2022 champion.
In addition to the Grand Finals, there will also be a special race for 10 students who were the fastest in the GR Tour which brought sim racing to educational institutions such as Sunway University, USM Nibong Tebal, St. Michael’s Institution, MMU, INTI International university, Asia Pacific University, UKM and UiTM Pasir Gudang. Those who perform well will also get a share of the generous prize pool.
Besides the prize money for the winners, there will also be the chance to represent Malaysia in the GR GT Cup Asia event. If he wins this event, he will then have a chance to also take part in the World Finals.
Besides exhibition races over the weekend, there will also be contests for the public to win merchandise. Exclusive TOYOTA GAZOO Racing apparel will also be on sale and there will be special Tomica die-cast scale models on display. For those interested in the ‘real thing’, there will also be a selection of GR models on display.
“Simulator racing continues to grow exponentially globally and is today considered an important step for any individual intending to make that transition to real-life racing. It has also become an important pre-requisite in the selection and training of candidates who join our GAZOO Racing Young Driver Development Program for a chance to compete as a Rookie in the GR Vios Challenge,” said Datuk Ravindran K., President of UMW Toyota Motor.
The GR GT CUP Grand Final is open to the public with free entrance from 10 am to 6 pm on both days at the Sunway University Campus (click here for directions). If you cannot make it to the venue, you can also watch the live broadcast on the Toyota Malaysia social media channels.