Dutch GT4 Championship

News from the annual SRO Spa press conference

© DPPI

As usual the SRO had its annual press conference with Stéphane Ratel this afternoon at the Spa-Francorchamps circuit. After months of speculation Ratel talked about the current status of the SRO series, the near future and of course the much anticipated GT1 World Championship and GT2 European Championship.

The press conference lasted almost a full hour, so what we will do for you is summarize the information per (new) series.

GT1 World Championship

As per 2010 there will be a brand new GT1 World Championship. Ratel wants to have his series to race in twelve races, with our of those races in Western-Europe. At this moment the organisation is looking at a solid calendar that includes Argentina, Brazil, Dubai, Saudi Arabia (Riyadh), China (Shanghai or Beijing), Singapore, Russia (Moscow), Romania (Bucharest) outside Western Europe. Australia and USA are also being looked at, but most likely these races will not happen in the first year of the championship. The European rounds that will be on the calendar are the Tourist Trophy at Silverstone, the Monza race and the Total 24 Hours of Spa with an additional race in Portugal or a new event in Germany.

The cars to be used in the 2010 series will be different than the ones currently in use. The current ’supercars’ like the Maserati MC12, the Saleen S7R will no longer be allowed, nor will the Aston Martin DBR9. Cars like the Corvette C6/Z06 and some of the GT3 models like the Ford GT could be used in the GT1 class. The new rules will be a compromise of the plans presented by Stéphane Ratel at Zolder round in 2007 and the requests made by the manufacturers. All decisions are made in cooperation with the ACO, which organises the Le Mans 24 Hours. Cars that are built according to the new regulations will be allowed to race in 2009 already, in an independent class. The new cars will be heavier than the current spec of cars and will also have a standard ECU.

The SRO also wants to limit the number of cars taking part in the GT1 World Championship to 24 as a maximum. By keeping the number at 24 it will be easier for the FIA and SRO to pay (part of) the transportation costs of the teams to the non-European rounds. It would be easier for teams to decide to take part in the World Championship this way. A manufacturer will be allowed to have four cars in the series, no more no less if there are six brands entered. These manufacturers can not enter as a fully works-operated team, but works supported privateer teams are welcome, albeit only if they follow certain rules.

The FIA World Motor Sport Council will make a decision regarding the rules and calendar at the end of this year. If everything is confirmed, the FIA has already given a green light for the new strategy, the calendar for 2010 will be revealed as early as this year so that teams have over a year to prepare for the new series. By november 2009 the teams should have sent their entries in, after that the organisers will make their selection of the teams for the 2010 season.

GT2 European Championship

Besides the GT1 World Championship there will also be a GT2 European Championship. This series will be using the current FIA GT Championship calendar and will therefore race at the European rounds of the GT1 Championship.

Like in GT1 the new rules for GT2 will be a compromise of the plans presented at Zolder in 2007 and the requests made by the manufacturers. More than likely the cars will be similar to the current batch of cars, like the Porsche 911, the Aston Martin Vantage. There are also talks to bring the new BMW M3 into GT2, but like before there are discussions between manufacturers as to the BMW is a GT car or a touring car. If the car is to race in the GT2 class will depend on the outcome of these discussions.

GT3 European Championship

The SRO is absolutely satisfied with things in GT3. Therefore the format is kept the same, no changes to be made. For 2008 there have been 47 entries and with the Alpina BMW, Maserati and Audi rumoured to join the number of cars could easily go up. Unfortunately the circuits used are not capable of having such a large number of cars so for 2009 there will be a new limit of four cars per model (six now) and a maxium of fifty cars on the grid.

GT4 European Cup

Despite not growing as much as GT3 does the SRO believes in the concept. Ratel put it that in the current state of the economy worldwide it is more reasonable for people to race the cost effective GT4 cars. At Spa the Donkervoort D8GT made its debut, while at Oschersleben the Audi TT did some testing. More cars are expected to join in 2009 as the Maserati Granturismo and Porsche 997 are also being developped for this category.

Another change in the GT4 European Cup is the rebranding of the Sports Light category. This category will be named Supersports as of 2009 as the SRO hopes to attract more teams and drivers with this name. The ‘Light’ name apparently keeps people away…

ADAC GT Masters

The ADAC GT Masters series is doing well and like the FIA GT3 European Championship it needs no changes. There could be one extra race in 2009, but this is not certain. The ADAC GT Masters weekends will have a GT4/Supersports category which will race in separate races.

Belgian GT Championship

All meetings for the 2009 championship will have two one-hour races, with a pit window and driver change. This could mean that the 24 Hours of Zolder will be part of Dunlop Sport Maxx Endurance Cup (former Zolder Touring Cup).

Brasil GT3 Championship

This series currently has 16 cars every race. Plans for 2009 will see some additional cars to the field.

British GT Championship

So far it is looking quite well for the British GT Championhip, despite some drop-outs throughout the season. For 2009 there will probably be two Ford GT teams joining the series. Already running the GT3 and GT4 classes there could be a separate Supersports category in 2009. A change in the 2009 calendar will be the addition of an international round, most likely to be Spa-Francorchamps.

Dutch GT4 Championship

The first franchise in the history of SRO. At the moment there are 14 teams that have shown interest in the new series. The new GT4 Porsche 911 is being developped by GT3.NL, part of Porsche Centrum Eindhoven and will be run by Equipe Verschuur.

FFSA GT / GT3

Currently the only national series that has GT1, GT2 and GT3 running together in one series. For 2009 there will be no changes to the format and the GT1 and GT2 cars will be allowed to race in France. From 2010 on though the FFSA French GT Championship will be a GT3-only championship.

GT 90’s Revival Series

This season five races were planned, but after Hockenheim, Mugello and Dijon the series final two rounds at Spa and Brno were cancelled. A one-off event is planend at the end of September/early October, before a fresh new start is made in 2009. In the new rules the cars like Stealth, which are the GTP-like cars, will be excluded. Five events are planned for 2009 and they will be part of either an FIA GT weekend or a historic event.