24h of Spa – New regulations for 2016

Always a highly anticipated event in the concert of GT3 events, the 24 Hours of Spa constitute the flagship event of the Blancpain GT Series in the heart of summer in the Belgian Ardennes. Several regulatory changes will occur for this season, as recently detailed by SRO Motorsports, organizers of the Blancpain series.

The main ranking is now based on the overall result. This means that whatever the category of the first three classified under the checkered flag (Pro, Pro-Am, Am, etc.) they will be on the podium after the main race.

A national category for non-GT3 cars returns in 2016, and will include one-make series cars. These cars will be distinguished by green numbers with the Lumirank system.

In order to avoid any technological escalation during refueling and tire changes, a given time, based on the length of the pit lane, as well as a defined minimum time for refueling and tire changes, will be established for full pit-stop (refueling and changing more than one tire).

For reasons of sporting fairness, all cars must make a stop lasting 5 minutes or more during the first 22 hours of racing.

The cars present in Superpole will leave the pits every minute (instead of every 15 seconds in 2015).

For 2016, the Spa 24 Hours returns to the old system of a single safety car. This means that the pit lane will be open except when the train of cars passes at the pit lane exit. The Full Course Yellow procedure can be implemented before the safety car is deployed, to cause the cars to slow down immediately and allow the leader to be overtaken by the safety car.

In the Pro-Am category, the compositions of the crews are evolving. A Platinum-Gold-Silver-Bronze quartet is more permissible. Each trio entered for the rest of the season can be joined by a fourth driver (categorized at most Platinum), provided they take part in the rest of the season. In crews with two Pro drivers (Platinum and Gold) and two Bronze drivers, the latter must share a minimum of 8 hours behind the wheel. In crews with a Pro, this time is 6 hours minimum for the Bronze driver.