Earnings, Blancpain and calendar… So much new stuff for the FIA ​​GT!

The success of Blancpain Endurance Series (whose 2014 calendar has been revealed) clearly exceeded expectations. Delighted, the Swiss watchmaker has decided to extend its partnership with SRO. A partnership that will benefit the new Blancpain Sprint Series, known this year as the FIA ​​GT Series. By offering €100 in winnings at each European round in addition to the €000 distributed at the Baku World Challenge, the championship becomes relatively interesting for participants. The emphasis will be placed on promoting young talent, with a large part of the winnings being paid to the pairs of young drivers.

“Bringing our very exciting sprint series under the Blancpain banner, the highlight of which will be the Baku World Challenge next week, was a logical step in our process of improving the promotion of GT racing in Europe, rejoices Stéphane Ratel, president of SRO Motorsports Group. NOTWe are proud to be the first promoter to offer such a level of financial rewards in GT racing, which helps promote young hopefuls and improve the level of professionalism of our series. We hope that many young drivers will take this path and follow in the footsteps of Frédéric Makowiecki, Maxime Martin, Maximilian Buhk or the most talented winners of the Nissan GT Academy. However, the multiple categories of our series, which allow a very diverse entry list mixing real gentlemen drivers with professional drivers, must remain the DNA of GT racing. I would like to express my gratitude to the president of Blancpain, Marc A. Hayek, as well as to the vice-president Alain Delamuraz, for their support, for the past three years and for those to come. »

Stéphane Ratel took the opportunity to confirm the renewal of the partnership with Pirelli and to unveil the provisional calendar for the 2014 Blancpain GT Sprint Series:

- April 18-21: Easter cups (Nogaro)
- May 17-19: Brands-Hatch (Great Britain)
- July 4-6: Zandvoort (Netherlands)
- August 22-24: Slovakia Ring (Slovakia)
- 5-September 7: Algarve (Portugal)
- September 27-28 or October 4-5: Navarra (Spain)
- November 1-2: Baku World Challenge (Azerbaijan)

If the Blancpain Endurance Series and the Blancpain Sprint Series will be two separate championships, they will also be associated, the participants in the two championships joining forces for the Blancpain GT Series. The prize is an additional €100 in prizes which will be added to the €000 in kind awarded by the Pirelli GT Trophy. This is enough to encourage competitors to participate in both series. Interested parties should also be guaranteed a reduction in registration costs.