2016 FIAGTC Pre-Season Test

The FIA Gran Turismo Championship Pre-Season Test took place during the launch event of Gran Turismo Sport on May 19, 2016 at Copper Box, London, England. Due to the nature of the event, the races are played on a pre-release build of the game.
Serving as a demonstration of how the game's live eSports event would look like, the event is divided into two tournaments, the Nations Cup and Manufacturer Fan Cup (later renamed the Manufacturers Series in the final game). During this period, the game was initially planned to be released on 2016 with FIA Gran Turismo Championship events beginning in 2017, but the game (and thus the plans for the first year of eSports events) were pushed back to a year.
==Nations Cup==
===Qualifying===
Qualifying took place as the first ever session of any kind to be played (although not shown on the stream) on Gran Turismo Sport. Although the qualifiers took place on Brands Hatch Indy, the text on the standings screen mentions Seattle Short Circuit instead. Additionally, the car that was used on the qualifiers, the Lotus Evora '09, was also removed from the final build of the game due to licensing difficulties after the game was delayed to 2017.
====Regional Top 3====
The top three drivers of each region (Europe, Asia, and Americas, totaling nine drivers) advance to the semi-finals immediately. These drivers also start in the top nine position of the Semi-Final Round race.
Pos	Driver 	Time
1 	Yusuke Tomibayashi 	00:52.132
2 	Yuji Taneichi 	00:52.228
3 	Takuya Takahashi 	00:52.266
4 	Matieu Thornton 	00:52.413
5 	Melvyn Abraham-Hogan	00:52.537
6 	JT Lauro 	00:52.715
7 	Carlos Martinez 	00:52.772
8 	Tyrell Meadows 	00:52.817
9 	Nick McMillen 	00:53.388
====Consolation Round Qualifying====
Drivers ranked tenth and below that did not make their region's top three times proceed to the Consolation Round; this also determines their starting grid for the aforementioned race.
Position	Driver 	Time 	Grid
10 	Oscar Ruiz 	0:52.848Ruiz was the overall-fourth fastest driver representing Europe and would have qualified bypassed the Consolation Round without the regional top three rule; the absence of such rule would also have sent McMillen to 18th place overall and a 9th place start in the Consolation Round.	1
11 	Patrik Schroderus 	0:52.868 	2
12 	Fabio Assunção 	0:52.949 	3
13 	James Garner 	0:52.979 	4
14 	Thomas Kiefer 	0:52.990 	5
15 	Tommy van der Donckt 	0:53.153 	6
16 	Alexander Koeberle 	0:53.217 	7
17 	Simone Marceno 	0:53.298 	8
18 	Nestor Javier Garcia 	0:53.384 	9
19 	Paul Broekmeulen 	0:53.459 	10
20 	Brian Marsteller 	0:53.601 	11
21 	Pascal Fuhrmann 	0:53.801 	12
22 	Marcos de Oliviera Magrini	0:53.940 	13
23 	Samuele Parella 	0:53.964 	14
24 	Eduardo Martinho 	0:54.677 	15
====Notes====
===Consolation Round===
The Consolation Round is the stage intended for players that did not qualify from the previous time trial sessions. It is notable as the first ever race played on Gran Turismo Sport. The top seven finishers of the event would advance to the next stage of the Nations Cup, where their starting grids are also determined in this race; for instance, the race winner would start tenth, the runner-up would start second, and so-on.
Pos	No	Driver 	Car 	Time 	Q Grid	S-F Grid
1 	1 	Fabio Assunção 	BMW Z4 GT3 '11 	7:30.098	3 	10
2 	28	Tommy van der Donckt 	Audi R8 LMS (Audi Sport Team WRT) '15 	+0.154 	6 	11
3 	- 	Thomas Kiefer 	Ferrari 458 Italia GT3 '13 	+0.613 	5 	12
4 	- 	Oscar Ruiz 	Toyota FT-1 Vision Gran Turismo 	+3.547 	1 	13
5 	- 	Simone Marceno 	Jaguar F-type Gr.3 	+5.821 	8 	14
6 	12	Pascal Fuhrmann 	Volkswagen GTI Vision Gran Turismo Gr.3 	+10.046 	12 	15
7 	11	Brian Marsteller 	Renault Sport R.S.01 GT3 '16 	+11.005 	11 	16
8 	2 	Patrik Schroderus 	Nissan GT-R NISMO GT3 N24 Schulze Motorsport '13	+16.686 	2 	Out
9 	- 	Marcos de Oliviera Magrini	PEUGEOT Vision Gran Turismo Gr.3 	+18.747 	13 	Out
10 	- 	Eduardo Martinho 	Subaru WRX Gr.3 	+--.--- 	15 	Out
11 	10	Paul Broekmeulen 	Aston Martin V12 Vantage GT3 '12 	+--.--- 	10 	Out
12 	- 	Samuele Parella 	Alfa Romeo 4C Gr.3 	+--.--- 	14 	Out
13 	9 	Nestor Javier Garcia 	Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG GT3 '11 	+--.--- 	9 	Out
14 	7 	Alexander Koeberle 	Chevrolet Corvette C7 Gr.3 	+--.--- 	7 	Out
15 	4 	James Garner 	McLaren 650S GT3 '15 	+--.--- 	4 	Out
* Bold indicates drivers that advanced to next round.
* The early build of the game is known to be inconsistent when it comes to handling of number boxes; not all cars display the game-issued number boxes.
* Only gap times for the top nine finishers are shown during the stream, as the top seven advances to the next round; as a result, there is no gap times for tenth place and lower.
* All cars have "(S)" suffix on them, indicating separate instances of the cars for oval use. These were replaced with a set of oval Balance of Performance table for all race cars in the final game.
* de Oliviera Magrini's (and the Peugeot Manufacturer Fan Cup team) car has a plain, blank livery resembling the base model of the car.
* Marsteller's (and the Renault Sport Manufacturer Fan Cup team) R.S.01 uses the livery used by the Renault Sport R.S.01 '16 in the final game.
===Semi-Final Round===
The Semi-Final Round determines the eight drivers that will make it to the final round. This race features the N200 tuned version of the Mazda Roadster S (ND) '15, which was removed from the final game. For drivers that advance to the next round, this also determines their starting position for the finals.
Pos	Grid/No	Driver 	Time
1 	3 	Takuya Takahashi 	8:08.072
2 	2 	Yuji Taneichi 	+07.374
3 	1 	Yusuke Tomibayashi 	+08.166
4 	8 	Tyrell Meadows 	+08.166
5 	5 	Melvyn Abraham-Hogan	+09.053
6 	4 	Matieu Thronton 	+10.141
7 	6 	JT Lauro 	+10.979
8 	11 	Tommy van der Donckt	+11.415
9 	12 	Thomas Kiefer 	+12.903
10 	10 	Fabio Assunção 	+13.738
11 	15 	Pascal Fuhrmann 	+14.253
12 	13 	Oscar Ruiz 	+14.865
13 	7 	Carlos Martinez 	+15.276
14 	14 	Simone Marceno 	+17.111
15 	9 	Nick McMillen 	+21.529
16 	6 	Brian Marsteller 	+32.241
* Bold indicates drivers that advanced to next round.
===Final Round===
The Final Round determines the overall winner of the Nations Cup portion of the event.
Pos	No	Driver 	Car 	Time 	Q Grid
1 	2 	Takuya Takahashi 	Audi R18 TDI (Le Mans 2011) 	7:51.109	1
2 	7 	Yusuke Tomibayashi 	Toyota TS030 Hybrid '12 	+03.550 	3
3 	36	Matieu Thronton 	Alpine Vision Gran Turismo Gr.1 	+06.220 	6
4 	50	Tyrell Meadows 	Hyundai N 2025 Vision Gran Turismo Gr.1 	+07.721 	4
5 	1 	Yuji Taneichi 	Peugeot 908 HDi FAP - Team Peugeot Total '10	+09.407 	2
6 	12	JT Lauro 	SRT Tomahawk Vision Gran Turismo Gr.1 	+10.235 	7
7 	11	Tommy van der Donckt	Bugatti Vision Gran Turismo Gr.1 	+19.214 	8
8 	55	Melvyn Abraham-Hogan	Mazda LM55 Vision Gran Turismo Gr.1 	+--.--- 	5
* Bold indicates the overall winner.
* Takahashi used the rare "race damage" variant of the R18 TDI.
* Thronton's car used the 3D model of the Alpine Vision Gran Turismo Race Mode, as the decision to redesign the Gr.1 Alpine Vision GT car have not yet occurred.
==Manufacturer Fan Cup==
The Manufacturer Fan Cup determines which manufacturer would be crowned as the champion of the series that became the Manufacturers Series in the final game. Each manufacturer is represented by two players, which had to take turns during the course of the race.
A qualifying time trial was partially shown before the race, however the qualifying times of each manufacturer team were not shown during the stream.
===Entry List===
Team 	Car 	Drivers
Renault Sport	Renault Sport R.S.01 GT3 '16 	Yusuke TomibayashiCarlos Martinez
BMW 	BMW Z4 GT3 '11 	Yuji TaneichiJT Lauro
Alfa Romeo 	Alfa Romeo 4C Gr.3 	Takuya TakahashiTyrell Meadows
Audi 	Audi R8 LMS (Audi Sport Team WRT) '15 	Edoardo PirozziMatieu Thornton
Ferrari 	Ferrari 458 Italia GT3 '13 	Christopher Overgaard LindskjoldMelvyn Abraham-Hogan
Toyota 	Toyota FT-1 Vision Gran Turismo Gr.3 	Oscar RuizPedro Martin
Nissan 	Nissan GT-R NISMO GT3 N24 Schulze Motorsport '13	Patrik SchroderusNestor Javier Garcia
Aston Martin 	Aston Martin V12 Vantage GT3 '12 	Ludovic VerslegersFabio Assunção
Peugeot 	PEUGEOT Vision Gran Turismo Gr.3 	Samuele ParrellaJames Garner
Jaguar 	Jaguar F-type Gr.3 	Thomas KieferEduardo Martinho
Chevrolet 	Chevrolet Corvette C7 Gr.3 	Tommy van der DoncktNick McMillen
Mitsubishi 	Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution Final Edition Gr.3 	Alexander KoeberleBrian Marsteller
Mercedes-Benz	Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG GT3 '11 	Simone MarcenoMarcos de Oliviera Magrini
Volkswagen 	Volkswagen GTI Vision Gran Turismo Gr.3 	Alessandro D'AprilePaul Broekmeulen
McLaren 	McLaren 650S GT3 '15 	Pascal FuhrmannBen Bishop
Subaru 	Subaru WRX Gr.3 	Jonathan MarqeubreucqKazuki Yamada
*Country flags have been omitted from this entry list, due to inability to identify the origin of some players who only competed in this race.
*Nick McMillen's surname is misspelled as "McMillan" on the report on the Gran Turismo website. Ben Bishop's (who, like McMillen, is also a fellow GT Academy competitor) surname is also misspelled as "Bisshop" on the website's report.
===Results===
Pos	No	Team 	Time 	Q Grid
1 	1 	Renault Sport	35:06.645 	1
2 	1 	BMW 	+27.276 	2
3 	- 	Toyota 	+27.681 	6
4 	- 	Subaru 	+23.553(+10s penalty)The Subaru team crossed the finish line second, but was given a 10-second penalty following the finish after Yamada illegally pushed the BMW (driven by Taneichi) on the Karrusell in the final lap of the race.	16
5 	- 	Alfa Romeo 	+51.914 	3
6 	12	Mitsubishi 	+1:14.442 	12
7 	8 	Aston Martin 	+-:--.--- 	8
8 	11	Chevrolet 	+-:--.--- 	11
9 	- 	Ferrari 	+-:--.--- 	5
10 	13	Mercedes-Benz	+-:--.--- 	13
11 	7 	Nissan 	+-:--.--- 	7
12 	- 	Jaguar 	+-:--.--- 	10
13 	14	Volkswagen 	+-:--.--- 	14
14 	- 	Peugeot 	+-:--.--- 	9
15 	28	Audi 	+-:--.--- 	4
16 	15	McLaren 	+-:--.--- 	15
*Bold indicates the overall winner.
====Notes====
==Champions==
Nations Cup 	Takuya Takahashi	Takuya Takahashi
Manufacturer Fan Cup	Renault Sport 	Yusuke TomibayashiCarlos Martinez
==Aftermath==
Most, if not all, of the participants in this pre-season live event would never appear again on a FIAGTC live event, although Nick McMillen did compete in the 2020 FIAGTC finals, while Kazuki Yamada went on to work for Polyphony Digital as their test driver. Furthermore, the event was built around the fact that the game was originally planned to be released in 2016, with the first FIAGTC season to be held in 2017; however, the postponement of the game to 2017 pushed the first semi-formal FIAGTC season to May 5, 2018 (the start of the 2018 Pre-Season). In the meantime, following the game's launch from November 2017 to April 2018, Polyphony Digital hosted 24 online test seasons of six races each, in order to prepare for the full running of the championship events.
With the online championships finally started, the first Gran Turismo live event following the launch of the game was held at Nürburgring on May 10-13, 2018, coinciding with that year's running of Nürburgring 24 Hours race. That event featured 30 specially invited European players, as the championship was just being started.
==Trivia==
*During the Manufacturer's Fan Cup race, the Mercedes-Benz team incorrectly used a Brazilian flag instead of a German one; nationalities during that race corresponded to each manufacturer's country of origin.
*The safety car used during the Northern Isle Speedway Manufacturer's Fan Cup race is simulated: a 17th driver entered the race and set as the polesitter. The Nurburgring race also feature a full course yellow feature that was not present in the final game (in the final game, yellow flags are for the scene of the accident only).
==External links==
* Full Report: Nations Cup Finals on gran-turismo.com
* Full Report: Manufacturer Fan Cup Finals on gran-turismo.com
Category:Esports race reports