FIA GT Championship
| FIA GT Championship | |
|---|---|
| Vehicle type | Gran Turismo |
| Country or region | at last only Europe |
| Current name | FIA GT Championship |
| First season | 1997 |
| Last season | 2009 |
The FIA GT Championship (GT stands for Gran Turismo ) was a racing series in which near-production supercars and sports cars were used. The racing series was held between 1997 and 2009 before a successor series was founded under the title FIA GT1 World Championship . In the first few years the FIA-GT was driven out worldwide, but later focused mainly on Europe with some races in Asia and America. The majority of the races took place with two different motorsport classes. At the end of the season, the FIA awarded championship titles to drivers and teams in their respective classes. In 2013 the name FIA-GT was used again, but the series has a different concept with vehicles from the GT3 group .
history
The FIA-GT had its origins in the BPR Global GT Series founded in 1994 , which was named after its founders Jürgen B arth , Patrick P eter and Stéphane R atel. Other racing versions of the Ferrari F40 , the McLaren F1 and the Jaguar XJ220 drove in this championship .
In 1997 the FIA took over the lead in the series, while the planning was now taken over by the Stéphane Ratel organization . All vehicles that were already homologated by the FIA could switch directly from the BPR to the newly created FIA GT championship. However, these vehicles were quickly replaced by the vehicles specially designed for the new GT championship. The Mercedes-Benz CLK GTR and its evolutionary stage CLK LM in particular developed into the dominant vehicles in the first two years. The two cars won 16 of the 21 championship races under the Mercedes-Benz works team AMG and with Bernd Schneider , Klaus Ludwig and Ricardo Zonta were the drivers' champions of the GT1.
At the end of the 1998 season there were differences between the FIA, the SRO and the car manufacturers of the series. The production and maintenance costs, especially of the GT1 cars, had risen sharply compared to the previous series. After the 1997 season, BMW and a total of three other privateers withdrew from the GT1, while the less powerful and cheaper GT2 still had more than 10 teams to show for it. Therefore, the FIA wanted to redesign the GT1 class. This met with resistance from the remaining automobile manufacturers and they withdrew from series production. As a result, the GT1 was no longer advertised in 1999. The GT2 class remained the only vehicle category in the series and was given the designation GT . In addition, the organizer SRO rearranged the series. In the following years, the FIA GT concentrated more on private teams and on races in Europe. There were still races in China or Argentina, but much less often than in the World Cup years. Factory teams and their drivers also no longer received any championship points, which is why they only competed in the series at irregular intervals.
In 2000, the N-GT was added below the existing GT class. In the course of the cooperation between the FIA and the ACO , the classes were renamed again in 2005. The class advertised as GT2 at the beginning of the series was now called GT1 and the N-GT that was added later was called GT2. As of 2005, one brand was also named master in the respective classes. The most successful cars are the Chrysler Viper GTS-R , the Ferrari 550 GTS Maranello and in the less powerful GT2 the Porsche 911 GT3 RSR . For the 2010 season, organizer Stéphane Ratel was again aiming for a world championship with GT vehicles. To this end, he divided the previous FIA GT championship into two series, modified the GT1 regulations and founded the FIA GT1 world championship . The FIA GT2 European Championship , which was also planned , was not implemented. The GT1 designed for the World Championship were already eligible to compete in the last season of 2009, but lagged behind the more powerful old GT1 vehicles.
Classes
GT1
GT1 cars are pure racing cars that must be based on road cars. In the last few years of the FIA GT, the cars developed around 450 kW (600 hp) with a minimum weight of 1,100 kg. For the homologation of the vehicles it was necessary that a certain number of the road vehicles had been manufactured. The body was largely retained when it was converted into a racing car, but the technology was almost completely replaced. As of 1999, all teams had to be private teams, factory teams were not entitled to points if they competed.
GT2
Compared to the GT1, GT2 vehicles are closer to series production, with the FIA GT producing around 300–330 kW (400–450 hp) in recent years. In this class mostly customer teams competed, works teams were not entitled to points as in the GT1.
Other classes
In the G2 class, vehicles were allowed to start that had neither GT1 nor GT2 homologation of the FIA or whose homologation had expired. However, the vehicles in this category had to meet the FIA safety standards and weigh a minimum of 1,100 kg. Participants in this class received neither championship points, nor was a title awarded at the end of the year. For example, the class was used in 2006 for the racing debut of the Porsche 997 GT3 RSR.
In 2006, the FIA introduced the further GT3 class , with vehicles that are closer to series production and which, compared to the usual sales vehicles, are only allowed to have minor modifications such as a roll cage, a cleared interior and fuel tank that complies with the rules. The associated championship is called the FIA GT3 European Championship . In addition to a series of national championships, the only endurance race of the FIA GT, the 24-hour race of Spa-Francorchamps , was advertised for these vehicles.
run
All categories started together in a race that ran until 2006 over a distance of 500 kilometers or a maximum duration of three hours. With the 2007 season, the SRO limited the duration of the race to two hours. The 24-hour race at Spa-Francorchamps and the FIA-GT run in Bucharest were an exception to the rule. Due to the special characteristics of a street circuit, two one-hour races were held there. The race on Saturday was considered a qualifying race (and is not included in the official statistics), the actual race took place on Sunday. Another special feature was the race in Adria, which took place at night. All runs started with a flying start. Two drivers were allowed per vehicle. The Spa 24-hour race was restricted to four drivers. However, each driver had to sit in the car for at least 35 minutes during the race, otherwise the driver would be removed from the classification. In order to keep the tension high in the championship, additional weights were used. The first three vehicles in a race had to load additional ballast into the car for the next championship races, which may increase or decrease in the following races, depending on its placement.
master
Others
The racing series is the subject of the PC games GTR and GTR2 .
