FIA GT Championship

FIA confirms SRO as 2010 FIA GT promoter (UPDATE)

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The World Motor Sport Council of the FIA met in Paris today. Despite all the attention on the Formula 1 problems there were several FIA GT topics were on the agenda and at the end of the meeting the WMSC announced what had been decided.

As expected the FIA confirmed it had reached an agreement with Stéphane Ratel’s SRO to be the promoter of the new FIA GT1 World Championship that is set to kick off in 2010. Despite a threat from International GT Open promoter GT Sport the FIA confirmed that they entrust the organisation of the new championship to long-time FIA GT promotor SRO.

The World Motor Sport Council also confirmed that there will be three ‘distinct and easily identifiable FIA GT Championships’. The FIA GT1 World Championship will be open for independent teams and professional drivers, the FIA GT2 European Championship will be for independent teams and pro-am driver lineups while the FIA GT3 European Championship will be for independent teams and non-professional racing drivers.

Stéphane Ratel on the confirmation of his organisation being the 2010 promoter: “After more than 15 years of development in rebuilding GT racing, in order to help it regain its position as a major motorsport category, I would like to thank President Mosley for his continuous support. I believe we have a tremendous opportunity to build up a major Championship with a truly global reach. The new GT1 cars will embody all of the glamour and excitement of GT racing, while giving a cost-effective formula to the independent teams who wish to compete for a real World Championship title. Our effort in building up the FIA GT1 World Championship will not distract us from the launch of the new FIA GT2 European Championship, or from guaranteeing the ongoing success of the FIA GT3 European Championship.”

During the next meeting of the World Motor Sport Council in October the calendars of the FIA GT Championships will be published.
Until November 30, 2009 teams can file their entries for the 2010 FIA GT1 World Championship, with the World Motor Sport Council announcing the entry list for the first season in December.

The FIA GT2 and GT3 championship entries closing date is February 28, 2010.

Also confirmed was the date of the Hungaroring round that will replace the cancelled Bucharest city event. The race in Hungary will take place on August 29-30.