Presentation of the FIA ​​GT1 in Paris

The FIA ​​GT1 is taking a new turn, the discipline having acquired the status of FIA World Championship for 2010. SRO, promoter of the championship, did things in a big way, by exhibiting each of the models called to compete in the 2010 FIA GT1 season, at Place Vendôme, near the headquarters of the Automobile Club de France, where the presentation took place.

For this season, GT1 will visit four continents (Europe, Asia, Africa, America) and is seeing its format evolve. From now on, the qualifications will take place under the model of that in force in F1 (Q1, Q2, Q3) and two races of one hour each will take place during the weekend. The Saturday race, called the qualifying race, will establish the starting grid for the Sunday race, called the “championship race”, which is more rewarded in points. The points allocation system should also evolve to resemble that adopted in F1, WRC and WTCC (25, 18, 15, 12, 10, 8, 6, 4, 2, 1).

24 cars will compete, for six models present: Aston Martin DB9, Corvette Z06, Ford GT, Lamborghini Murcielago, Maserati MC12 and Nissan GT-R. These cars, exhibited at Place Vendôme in Paris - near Place de la Concorde, where the road cars were exhibited, in front of the offices of the FIA ​​and the Automobile Club de France - are a vector of dreams.

« I dreamed of these cars when I was a teenager, I love these cars, says Jean Todt, president of the FIA. I am even lucky enough to have several of the models on display here in my garage. »

« When I arrived at my office in the morning, and saw people admiring these cars on display at Place Vendôme, it reassured me that the decision to launch this FIA GT1 World Championship was the right one. », adds Todt.

Dream cars, certainly, but neither Porsche ni Ferrari are present in a World Championship which should feature cars from these prestigious brands. “ It will come soon, I think. I hope so », Declares Stéphane Ratel, president of SRO, promoter of the championship.

« The performance equivalence system bothers them a little, he adds. They are not the first to be wary of this concept. They know that their cars have an advantage over other brands and are wary of the fact that their performance will be degraded by the equivalence system. They focused on the GT2 category, where there are no equivalences yet. They haven't come to GT1 yet but we managed to convince them for GT3 and I hope it will be the same for GT1 »

Several pilots have already been announced. Frenchman Christophe Bouchut reunites with Lamborghini and All-Inkl.com, with whom he won in Zhuhai, China, in 2007. He will team up this year with Marc Basseng. For Ford, a female duo will defend the colors of Matech Competition. The Swiss Natacha Gachnang and Cyndie Allemann, already lined up together at the 24 Hours of Le Mans, will run in GT1. On the other Ford Matech, former F1 driver Enrique Bernoldi will team up with Thomas Mutsch. Find the list of entrants to date by clicking below.