Gran Turismo Events

About us

Gran Turismo Events is a motoring and lifestyle event organizer based in Stockholm. Although the core team is small, just two people, our participants say that we deliver experiences of monumental size.

Searching the internet, a common definition of Gran Turismo is "...a dream of a better life including fast cars, travel and an exclusive lifestyle". We think this is quite far from the truth. Our clients do not dream this. It is their reality, and they are enjoying every moment of it.

Although supercars often are associated with an extravagant lifestyle, our heart and soul lies in motor sports. We really enjoy spending time on the race track, no matter what car we happen to drive. You dont need a Ferrari, Lamborghini or Porsche to have a good time on the track. Some of our fastest drivers are using much cheaper material.

It is not about racing. It is about challenging yourself to the perfect lap, being on the sharp edge between recklessness and total control.

We believe in safety, and the most important part of a safe event is the driver. Our participants share a common attitude that they drive for pleasure, not to set records by minimizing margins and taking unnecesary risks. Many of our drivers bring extremely expensive gear to the track they wouldnt like to get ruined.

Our events are organized on some of the best locations in Europe, like Spa-Francorchamps and the Nurburgring. We will never show disrespect to fellow motorists by encouraging racing on streets or public highways. No street in the world compares to a proper race track anyway.

Selection of hotel at the location is done carefully, making sure it can provide style and comfort for both driver and passenger.

The beginning: 2005 - 2007

The first event – Gran Turismo Polonia – was conceived in 2005. The idea was spawned by Peter Ternström, who spent his childhood summers in Poznan close to the only racetrack in Poland – Tor Poznan.

"As a youngster, me and the neighbor kids used to hang out by the track whenever there was a race going on. It was amazing to see all the action on the track and in the paddock, and the determination of the drivers".

25 years later he came back - renting the track and creating a modest event in Poland for his fellow swedish super car owners. Now who would like to bring their brand new Ferrari to a former eastern bloc country? It seemed like everyone - after 48 hours all 40 places were taken. Never before had so many super cars visited Poland.

The road quality was so bad in Poland during this first year, that we had to make a detailed map of the road from Berlin to Poznan with all the really bad parts marked in red. Even still, really low cars like the Porsche 996 GT3 had to be very careful not to scratch the front. Luckily for us, road quality has improved significantly since then.

Gran Turismo Polonia 2006

With virtually no marketing except for the internet and the grapevine, all 60 places to Gran Turismo Polonia 2006 are sold during a weeks time. For the first time ever, a Ferrari Enzo visits Poland. The event is extended from two to three full days on the track. A participant has trouble finding his Ferrari on the hotel parking, since there are over 20 similar red Ferraris attending.

Gran Turismo Polonia 2007

For Gran Turismo Polonia 2007 two Porsche Carrera GT’s come to Poland, and so does 70 more super cars from all over Scandinavia. The event gains interest from the media, with local TV and radio reporting from the track.

Photographers are chasing us through Poland like paparazzi chasing celebrieties. A search on google now renders over 100’000 results on Gran Turismo Polonia.

2008: Enter The Stig

With increased international attention, the super star racing driver from Top Gear – The Stig – joins us in Poland. As a result, attention from the media skyrockets. Gran Turismo Polonia is now considered ”the most important polish super car event” according to the polish press. Over 70 cars attend this year. The most expensive, an Ascari KZ-1 prototype car, is worth roughly 1 million euro.

Lamborghini has official launch of LP560 on Gran Turismo Polonia 2008

Lamborghini decides to have their official launch of the new LP-560 for the swedish market at Gran Turismo Polonia 2008. ”All the Scandinavian clients are in Poland with Peter anyway”, states a Lamborghini official. We see an increased number of participants from outside Scandinavia, like Spain, Germany, Ukraine and the UK.

”This is the Rolls-Royce of all track events” says a well known figure from Swedish motor sports.

2009: 40000 spectators in the centre of Poznan

In cooperation with the city of Poznan we manage to shut down central parts of Poznan to create a temporary race track and public display. Over 40’000 people come to see this spectacular show of awesome super car power on the streets of Poznan. Some 80 cars attend, few of them cost less than 100’000 Euro. We have to change hotels in Poznan to accomodate all drivers and cars.

Media attention soars to new levels. Peter Ternström is interviewed on live TV every day the week before and during the event. A TV morning show is held live from the race track. Local radio mentions Gran Turismo Polonia on the hour, every hour.

A search on google now renders over 200’000 results on Gran Turismo Polonia.

Gran Turismo Classico is born

A new event - Gran Turismo Classico is conceived during the autumn of 2009. We bought 28 identical Fiat 126p and had 28 crazy teams to rally them from Poznan to Stockholm. Everyone got to keep their Fiat 126, and the winning team got a en extra car for the passenger. Complete madness, but lots of fun. This event is covered in over 6 pages in auto motor & sport.

Jens Sverdrup and Justyna Tuga joins the team

Jens Sverdrup leaves his job at Lamborghini to team up with Peter Ternström. The aim is set at taking Peter Ternströms already very successful Gran Turismo formula further into other events around Europe. The goal is to make Gran Turismo Events the leading event company for super car owners in Europe. Jens comes from a long and successful sales and marketing background in the supercar industry.

Justyna Tuga takes the lead on Gran Turismo Polonia, replacing former management. Justyna has been working with us on Gran Turismo Polonia since the start in 2005 and is now stepping up and becoming manager for the event.

2010: Nurburgring, Hungaroring, Poland and Gothenburg

Gran Turismo Nurburgring 2010

2010 is the year things really take off, and we start to look outside Poland for new venues. As the first Scandinavian entity since 1927, we manage to rent the entire Nurburgring Nordschleife for one day in May. Over 100 super cars attend Gran Turismo Nurburgring. The most expensive car is a Ferrari 1957 F1 car worth 7 Million euros. We rent a helicopter to shoot the now famous "Mikael Persbrandt vs Porsche Carrera GT" movie published on auto motor & sport, Aftonbladet TV and later televised on TV8.

Gran Turismo Budapest 2010

In June, we went to Budapest and three days on Hungaroring – Gran Turismo Budapest. An alternative midsummer celebration which attracted the cream of super car owners from all over Europe.

Two Ferrari 599XX from Norway made a huge impression on all of us. Playboy Hungary brings their entire calendar (miss January - December) to the track and decides to join the midsummer party later in the evening.

Gran Turismo Polonia 2010

Gran Turismo Polonia marches into its sixth edition with an even bigger footprint in Poland. We close of a bigger part of the city in Poznan, and do the same in Gdynia for the pre-party. The famous skier Jon Olsson joins us in Poland with his Ultima GT-R. Swedish TV joins Jon and the show is televised during late 2010. GT Polonia is covered in 30 magazines, 194 articles in the internet, 10 radio shows and 9 TV programs.

Gran Turismo Gothenburg 2010

As the final event for the year, we rented the city race track in Gothenburg for Gran Turismo Gothenburg. Never before had som many super cars visited Gothenburg. Many familiar faces also came to the track, like Mikael Persbrandt, Patrik Sjöberg, Geir Moen and the super entrepreneur Bård Eker with his Koenigsegg. We also teamed up with Victorias Secret to end the 2010 season in style.