IFRL History
Lake Louise is a Gran Turismo original added with GT7’s Spec II update on November 2, 2023, the series' first snow venue since Chamonix in GT6. Polyphony set it at a fictional ski resort in the Canadian Rockies near Banff and shipped three layouts: Long, Short, and Tri-Oval. The Long Track is 3.7 km with 78 meters of elevation, a long straight, a jump, and a second half that tightens. Players love the beautiful absurdity of racing through a ski resort under floodlights. They hate discovering how far a small mistake can slide.
Fun fact
Lake Louise is the first snow track in the Gran Turismo series with floodlights for night racing.
The corners that matter
The opening sweepers are faster than they look; lift before you think you should. The first real brake onto a tighter right is where the field concertinas. Mid-lap the corners stack; slide wide and you collect the bank, not a runoff. The bend after the jump starts before takeoff: control your speed and aim at the landing path. The last sector is slow and technical, where you pass a sliding car and get passed if you over-slow. On lap one, treat every crest as ice, because it is. If two cars arrive at a bank together, the outside car loses the argument with the snow.
Main-event strategy
Lake Louise hosts the Week 6 opener only. There is no Gr.3 race here. Snow tires, rally cars, and survival. The main event that night is Brands Hatch.
Garage notes
Stock plus snow tires. If a setting is announced, it comes with a week’s notice.
Opener notes
The WRX Gr.B on snow is a four-wheel-drive pendulum. Brake early and straight. Turn with a little throttle already in. If the rear comes around, catch it with the wheel, not a stab of brake. Reverse grid plus snow means the first lap looks like a parking lot; leave two car widths and give the cars ahead room over the jump. Minnesota winter experience counts for nothing if you land on a Subaru.
“Sixteen Minnesotans, and somehow nobody remembered how to drive in snow.”
