Introduction
The FIA GT1 World Championship brings together iconic sports car brands Aston Martin, Corvette, Ford, Lamborghini and Nissan – in spectacular competition in an exciting sprint format.
The pinnacle of sports car racing features 10 teams, 20 cars and 40 of the world’s leading drivers will compete on 10 of the leading circuits on four continents.
In this its second year, the FIA GT1 World Championship is ground-breaking, truly global, prestigious, and technically innovative; ushering in a new era for sports car racing.
As Stephane Ratel, the promoter of the FIA GT1 World Championship, says: “the series showcases the pinnacle of sports car racing in a single world championship and is now one of the ‘big four’ international motorsport series recognised by the FIA.”
After a highly successful first season the 2011 FIA GT1 World Championship will begin, as it did in 2010, in Abu Dhabi at the end of March. As well as the event in the United Arab Emirates, the races in Algarve, Silverstone, Navarra, Paul Ricard and San Luis are all carried over from the inaugural season.
The four new tracks on the 2011 calendar include Zolder (Belgium), Sachsenring (Germany) and Curitiba (Brazil), with the series heading into new territory in September with a race in China, at the Ordos International Circuit.
The Championship
The FIA GT1 World Championship is a world championship sports car racing series, regulated by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA) and promoted by the Stephane Ratel Organisation (SRO).
Entrants compete in one-hour races on multiple continents, driving ‘grand touring’ race cars that are based on standard production road cars, and conform to strict GT1 regulations.
Championships are awarded to teams and drivers each season.
Cars and Teams
Cars from five of the most renowned sports car marques will battle for supremacy. The Aston Martin DB9, Corvette Z06, Ford GT Matech, Lamborghini Murciélago 670 RS-V, Maserati MC 12 and Nissan GT-R are will engage in the battle of the brands.
Aston Martin DB9
Hexis AMR, Young Driver AMR
Ford GT Matech
Marc VDS Racing Team, Belgian Racing
Lamborghini Murcielago 670 RS-V
Swiss Racing Team, All-Inkl.com Münnich Motorsport
Nissan GT-R
Sumo Power GT, JR Motorsport
Heritage
A proud history
Grand Touring (GT) races first came to the fore in the 1950s, with the first FIA GT Cup for drivers and manufacturers awarded in 1960. That year, Ferrari took the manufacturers’ honours, with Olivier Gendebien triumphant among the drivers. After a period of recession, a new series of endurance GT races was created by BPR (Barth – Peter – Ratel) in the 90s. With an average entry of 50 cars per event, it soon became the world’s leading sportscar series. Featuring a grid of world-famous GT cars, headlined by the battle between the Ferrari F40 LM, the McLaren F1 GTRs and the Lotus V8s, the series proved compelling competition for media and fans.
The FIA GT is born
In 1997, the FIA – motorsport’s world governing body – created an officially sanctioned GT series to be promoted by SRO. The first year saw a direct confrontation between five manufacturers in GT1 and four in GT2, with an average grid of 45 cars. The contest between Mercedes and BMW continued right up to the last race, offering one of the best shows ever seen in GT racing. However, manufacturer participation sent the costs of racing soaring and hindered the competitiveness of privately-entered teams.
Rebirth of the privateer
With the departure of the last manufacturer after the 1999 season, by 2000 the FIA GT Championship had evolved into a Championship led by privateer teams, with manufacturer support. The racing rebuilt itself around the GT and N-GT categories, including makes such as Chrysler, Lamborghini, Lister, Porsche and Ferrari.
Growth and stability
In 2001, the 24 Hours of Spa was introduced, becoming a mandatory event for all FIA GT teams the next year. Its success was an immediate, establishing the race as one of the leading blue-ribbon motorsport endurance events. Between 2002 and 2004, the FIA GT Championship was part of the Super Racing Weekend multi-series platform, ensuring steady development and growing media coverage.
Performance balancing
From 2005, the GT1 and GT2 categories re-established themselves in the FIA GT Championship, thanks to the implementation of the FIA’s Balance of Performance system.
This guaranteed a level playing field across the different architecture of brands such as Aston Martin, Corvette, Ferrari, Lamborghini, Maserati and Saleen. In 2006, the FIA GT celebrated its centenary race at the French circuit of Dijon-Prenois.
Sporting Regulations and Weekend Format
2011 Weekend Format
Each of the 10 events held in 2011 will feature two 60-minute races, one Qualifying Race and one Championship Race. Qualifying will take place over three periods, with the eight slowest cars dropping out after the first and second periods, leaving the final eight battle it out for pole position. The Qualifying Race will determine the grid for the Championship Race on the final day. There will be a mandatory pit stop for tyre and driver change in each race and success ballast will be added to the top four cars at the end of the weekend.
The events run over 3 days (except Round 1 in Abu Dhabi which is over 2 days).
Qualifying
A From 0.00 to 0.20 (Q1), all cars driven by the “Drivers 1” will be permitted on the track and at the end of this period, the fastest cars will proceed to Q2 and their lap times will be deleted. All eliminated cars will be prohibited from taking any further part in the session.
B From 00.27 to 00.42 (Q2), the remaining cars driven by the “Drivers 2” will be permitted on the track and at the end of this period, the fastest cars will proceed to Q3 and their laps times will be deleted. All eliminated cars will be prohibited from taking any further part in the session.
C From 00.50 to 1.00 (Q3), the remaining cars driven by the “Drivers 1” will be permitted on the track.
Success Ballast for Qualifying Race
The regulation regarding the allocation of success ballast during the race weekend has been changed with the top two cars in the Qualifying Race receiving 10kg and 5kg respectively and the 9th placed car removing 5kg and all cars placed 10th or less removing 10kg. The success ballast allocated in the Championship Race has also been altered with 30kg, instead of 40kg, being awarded to the winning car. The weight from both races will be added to give the resulting increase or reduction in weight, which will take effect from the following Event in the Championship.
| |
Qualifying Race |
Championship Race |
| 1st |
+10kg |
+30kg |
| 2nd |
+5kg |
+20kg |
| 3rd |
0kg |
+10kg |
| 4th |
0kg |
+5kg |
| 5th |
0kg |
0kg |
| 6th |
0kg |
-5kg |
| 7th |
0kg |
-10kg |
| 8th |
0kg |
-20kg |
| 9th |
-5kg |
-30kg |
| 10th |
-10kg |
-30kg |
| 11th |
-10kg |
-30kg |
Points system
The number of cars and drivers eligible to score points in the Qualifying Race has been increased from the top 3 (in 2010) to the top 6 cars in every round of the 2011 FIA GT1 World Championship.
| |
Qualifying Race |
Championship Race |
| 1st |
8 pts |
25 pts |
| 2nd |
6 pts |
18 pts |
| 3rd |
4 pts |
15 pts |
| 4th |
3 pts |
12 pts |
| 5th |
2 pts |
10 pts |
| 6th |
1 pts |
8 pts |
| 7th |
0 pts |
6 pts |
| 8th |
0 pts |
4 pts |
| 9th |
0 pts |
2 pts |
| 10th |
0 pts |
1 pts |
Tyres
The number of sets of new tyres each team can use during a race weekend have been increased from four to six from 2010. As well as being able to use a used set from the previous race from the second race onwards, teams will be allocated two fresh sets of tyres for the two 80-minute Free Practice and Pre Qualifying sessions, as well as the 30-minute Warm Up, leaving teams and drivers with four new sets for Qualifying and the two 60-minute races.
Pit stops
A mandatory pit stop for changing drivers and all 4 tyres is to be carried out during each of the two races, between the 25th and 35th minutes.
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