The FIA currently recognizes only three World Championships. There Formula 1, But also Rally with the WRC and Tourism with the WTCC. This has been on Stéphane Ratel's mind for several years, and if all goes well Grand Tourism could in turn have its own World Championship in 2010. “The FIA does not give the World Championship label like that” recalls Gabriele Cadringer, FIA representative. “We have been discussing it for months with Stéphane Ratel, but the contract with the FIA is now ready and all the conditions are in place today to take the plunge. The FIA World Championship label requires having at least ten races on three continents, four different brands and at least eighteen cars on the starting grid.
Stéphane Ratel knows better than anyone, to build a new stable championship, you might as well not give too much power to the manufacturers. The direct confrontation between Porsche, Mercedes and BMW had exploded costs a few years ago, and the GT almost didn't recover. The recipe that SRO wishes to apply to the GT World Championship is therefore the one that made the FIA GT or the FIA GT3 successful: not authorizing manufacturers to officially enter the championship. They will therefore have to rely on private teams, as Ford is doing with Matech Concepts or as Lamborghini is going to do with Reiter Engineering. Additionally, only six brands, for a maximum of twenty-four cars, will be allowed to participate in the GT World Championship.
The 2010 technical regulations were studied in collaboration with the ACO and approved by the FIA. To put it simply, the new GT1s will be evolutions of the current GT3s, or GT2s equipped with a specific kit. As is currently done in GT3 or GT4, a system of balancing performance between the different cars will be put in place.
Twelve rounds will be on the program in 2010, visiting twelve countries and five continents: Argentina, Australia, Great Britain, Italy, Portugal, Germany, Belgium, Romania, Russia, Bulgaria, South Africa and the United Arab Emirates.
Two cars are already ready and will perform several times this season: the Nissan GT-R prepared by Nismo and the Ford GT developed by Matech Concepts. “Our goal was to make a spectacular GT1, which can be run on the same budget as a GT3,” explains Martin Bartek, owner of Matech Concepts. “In one year of development, we have achieved this great result. We built two Ford GT1s. We will enter the first in GT FIA this season, in order to complete its evolution with 2010 as our objective. The second car will be entrusted to MarcVDS Racing. »
For his part, Hans Reiter is also working on the construction of a new generation Lamborghini Murciélago. His objective is to participate in a few rounds of the 2009 FIA GT, at the end of the season. The GT revival is well and truly underway.
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