This week brings three new combinations in Gran Turismo 7 for Week 42 of 2026. We're heading to the Red Bull Ring, Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps, and Sardegna Road Track Layout B. It's a one-make open-wheel sprint to open, a Gr.3 sprint through Eau Rouge in the middle, and 15 laps of Gr.4 with two compulsory compounds and five times tyre wear to finish.
Daily Race A: Red Bull Ring in the Red Bull X2014 Junior
The Red Bull Ring sits in Spielberg in Styria, Austria, with 10 corners and a longest straight of 939 m. It's a lap of big braking zones and hard acceleration, so the time is in how well you stop and how early you get back on the power.
The Gran Turismo Red Bull X2014 Junior on Racing Hards for 5 laps is a one-make, so everyone's in the same car and it comes down purely to driving. Our database lists it at 246 bhp and 550 kg, mid-engined and rear-wheel drive, as a formula training car.
Five laps at standard fuel and wear with no pit stops makes this a sprint, so qualifying and a clean first lap matter most. Racing Hards give the least grip of the Racing compounds, so we'd expect a light rear-driven car to move around under power. Be patient with the throttle out of the slower corners, and let the rest of the field overdrive the first couple of laps.
The last Daily A for this car was Week 28 of this year, 4 laps at Sardegna Road Track Reverse. Update 1.71 changed tyre behaviour when slipping, as well as throttle control and traction control, so if you last drove it before 20 August, give yourself a few laps to relearn it.
Daily Race B: Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps in Gr.3
Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps in Belgium spans 7 km with 21 corners. It's a GT7 legend, built around Eau Rouge into Raidillon, a steep climb over a blind summit, then the long Kemmel Straight down to Les Combes.
Gr.3 on Racing Mediums for 5 laps, standard fuel and wear, and no pit stops. It's the bread-and-butter Daily B format and another sprint, so qualifying and lap one are where the race is won. The tow down the Kemmel Straight will set up most of the overtakes, so a clean exit from Raidillon is worth practising.
The last two Spa Daily Bs, in Weeks 14 and 28 of this year, were the same format. Both ran before update 1.71, and the Audi R8 LMS Evo '19 was the most-used car in each, at 33.1% and 36.1%, ahead of the Porsche 911 GT3 R (992) '22 and the Ferrari 296 GT3 '23. Update 1.71 adjusted Performance Points and individual car parameters throughout the game, so the balance may have moved. Check the current Gr.3 BoP before you settle on a car.
One more variable arrives mid-week. The Mazda RX-Vision GT3 Evo is a new Gr.3 car in Spec IV Part 1 on 15 October, and when we covered it Polyphony hadn't published its BoP.
Daily Race C: Sardegna Road Track Layout B in Gr.4
Sardegna Road Track Layout B in Italy spans 3.89 km with 13 corners and 56 m of elevation, with a longest straight of 915 m. It's a fictional coastal circuit, and this layout is flowing turns with a lot of elevation change.
Gr.4 for 15 laps, with ×2 fuel and ×5 tyre wear. Both Racing Mediums and Racing Softs are mandatory, so every driver has to use each compound, which means at least one pit stop. This is the strategy race of the week. Softs trade life for pace over a lap, and at ×5 wear that trade will matter.
The last Gr.4 race on this layout was Week 25 of this year, 15 laps on Racing Hards at ×2 fuel and ×4 wear. That was a one-compound race and it ran before update 1.71 revised tyre heating and wear values, so don't lean on old wear numbers. The Citroën GT by Citroën Gr.4 was the most-used car that week, at 35.2%, ahead of the Porsche Cayman GT4 Clubsport '16 and the Ferrari 458 Italia Gr.4.
The order of the compounds is the big question. Softs first and a long Medium stint to the flag is one route. Mediums first and a final push on fresh Softs is the other. Which is quicker depends on how fast the Softs fall away at ×5, and that is something to find out in practice. Run a few laps on each compound, see what a lap costs in fuel, then pick your starting compound and your stop lap.
Final Thoughts
A really nicely balanced week. The X2014 Junior one-make at the Red Bull Ring will reward tidy inputs on Racing Hards, the Gr.3 sprint at Spa will reward a clean first lap and a good tow, and the Gr.4 race at Sardegna will reward whoever gets the compound order and the stop timing right.
Sardegna is the one we'd circle. Fifteen laps with two compulsory compounds and heavy wear leaves the order and the stop timing in your hands. Spec IV Part 1 arrives on Thursday 15 October with Sportsland SUGO and six new cars. The feature list we've covered has no physics change in it, so laps you bank now should carry over, but read the update notes on the day.
Let us know what you think about this combination. It looks like it could be a very interesting one.
Daily Race Discussion
Gran Turismo 7