Honda Racing e-Motorsport holds “GT Grand Final 2024” on Dec 1 in Tokyo

・The final event of the ‘Honda Racing eMS 2024,’ which saw over 230,000 participants from various countries in the qualifiers this summer, the ‘GT Grand Final 2024,’ will be held on December 1st at the Honda Welcome Plaza Aoyama in Tokyo

・The participants in the 2023 final event was limited to residents in Japan. This year, for the Challenge class for e-athletes of 18 year old or above, eligibility has been expanded to residents of overseas^*1 as well.

・The event ambassador, Inugami Korone, a Japanese VTuber^*2 with 2.11 million followers, will mirror-stream the event on her YouTube channel.

TOKYO, Japan, November 21, 2024 – Honda Racing Corporation (HRC) today announced 235,000 e-athletes have participated in its official e-motorsports event, Honda Racing eMS 2024, using the Gran Turismo 7^*3 (published by Sony Interactive Entertainment Inc.) for PlayStation®5 (PS5®)^*4 and PlayStation®4 (PS4®)^*5. The qualifying event has been held online from August 2 to September 1, 2024.

The top 10 qualifiers from the “U17 Class” for those aged 17 and under, and another 10 from the “Challenge Class” for those aged 18 and over, will compete in the finals at the Honda Welcome Plaza Aoyama (Minato-ku, Tokyo, hereinafter referred to as the Welcome Plaza) on Sunday, December 1, 2024, vying for the championship title.

The 10 qualifiers of the “Challenge Class” consists of three Italian, a French, a Brazilian and an Australian e-athletes along with four Japanese.

The machines used in the finals will include the Honda RA272, which brought Honda its first F1^*6 victory at the 1965 Mexican GP, as well as the NSX Gr3/4 machines and the Civic Type R (FL5).

Additionally, the finals will feature the debut of the Honda eMS SIM-01, an eMS simulator modified from an actual formula machine used for training at the Honda Racing School (HRS) at Suzuka Circuit, which has produced drivers like Takuma Sato, Yuki Tsunoda, and Ayumu Iwasa.

On the day of the event, interested participants may have the opportunity to experience this formula machine simulator with ‘Gran Turismo 7’ (Should there be a long queue, numbered tickets will be distributed. ).

Live streaming will be available in English and Japanese.

■English：https://www.youtube.com/@HondaRacingGLB
■Japanese：https://www.youtube.com/c/hondaracingglobal

English ch: Commentator Peter Lyon,            Analyst Robbie Nishida
Japanese ch：Commentator Hideyuki Nakajima,        Analyst  Tomoaki Yamanaka

The event will be hosted by eSports caster Kosuke Hiraiwa, with Tomoki Nojiri, the Super Formula champion of 2021 and 2022, as a guest.

^{*1: Countries and regions where PlayStation services are provided and where Sony Interactive Entertainment Inc. has jurisdiction. Please see the terms of participation for details.}

^{*2: VTuber stands for virtual YouTuber, which refers to YouTubers who produce and share videos they appear in as virtual characters and avatars generated using computer graphics.}

^{*3, *4, *5: “PlayStation,” “PS5,” and “PS4,” “Gran Turismo,” and “GT” are registered trademarks of Sony Interactive Entertainment Inc.
Gran Turismo 7: © 2023 Sony Interactive Entertainment Inc. Developed by Polyphony Digital Inc.
Manufacturers, cars, names, brands and associated imagery featured in this game in some cases include trademarks and/or copyrighted materials of their respective owners. All rights reserved. Any depiction or recreation of real-world locations, entities, businesses, or organizations are not intended to be or imply any sponsorship or endorsement of this game by such party or parties. "Gran Turismo" logos are registered trademarks or trademarks of Sony Interactive Entertainment Inc.}

^{*6: Formula One is a trademark of Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile}