Yahoo Autos Gran Turismo Sport's Latest Update Brings More Cars, Circuit de la Sarthe
The magic of modern video games isn’t that you can preemptively pre-order them digitally before release, or download and play them immediately, or that each release is trumpeted by a series of Hollywood-style trailers that are two toots from a Michael Bay horn away from becoming a full-blown action movie. It’s that developers can add, update, or fix-or break-whatever they want, even years after a game is released. Thankfully, Gran Turismo Sport’s developers are still cranking out new cars and tracks.
To that end, Polyphony Digital has just released the 1.19 update, which brings nine new cars, four new single-player GT League events, and adds the much anticipated Circuit de la Sarthe to GT Sport-just weeks before the actual 24 Hours of Le Mans.
Group C Returns
For those with previous Gran Turismo titles stashed away, many of these cars will be familiar. The good news is that this time around they’re rendered in even higher detail, and thanks to the livery editor, you can put Martini Racing colors on anything you like.
In a perhaps unintentional homage to Group C, three cars from that era are among the additions. Although it never won at 24 Hours of Le Mans, the 1992 Nissan R92CP competed in Japan’s GT Championship series, and its R90CK sibling (not featured in the game) is known for having achieved a staggering 238 mph before reaching the Mulsanne straight’s chicanes in 1990. In 1988, the Jaguar XJR-9 interrupted Porsche’s win streak at Spa. Its SOHC 7.0-liter V-12 engine carried it to six victories in 11 races that year. Finally, there is the 1989 Sauber Mercedes C9. Not only did a C9 win the 1989 24 Hours of Le Mans, the year before the chicanes were installed on the Mulsanne Straight, examples also finished second and fifth in that same race.
The other new cars range from old to new:
1967 Lamborghini Miura P400 Bertone Prototype
1968 Fiat 500 F
1996 Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution IV GSR
2011 Renault Sport Mégane Trophy
2015 Subaru BRZ S
2016 Renault Sport Clio R.S. 220 EDC Trophy
Chicane, Not Stirred
The famed Circuit de la Sarthe can be played both with and without chicanes, which were added to the real-life track in 1990. In the latter configuration, expect the 3.5-mile-long Mulsanne straight to become a popular online drag-racing spot in public GT Sport lobbies. De la Sarthe also is featured in the Scapes mode as a photo location.
The new cars also enable the addition of three new events to the single-player GT League racing series. The Lamborghini Cup is an all-bull battle held at Autodrome Lago Maggiore, Dragon Trail Seaside, and Willow Springs. In the World Hatchback Championship, hot hatches are pitted against one another at Mount Panorama Motor Racing Circuit, Brands Hatch, and Tokyo Expressway. And you now can enter any GR.4 rated car in the Group 4 Cup event that covers Willow Springs, Tsukuba Circuit, and Suzuki Circuit.
The May 1.19 update is out now, and it’s the fourth major patch of 2018 that has added both cars and tracks. We’re still waiting to see cars we haven’t raced before in a Gran Turismo game, but this is another good group of great cars, all rich with racing history. And being able to tackle the Circuit de la Sarthe ain’t bad, either.
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