Team Russian Age and their Aston Martin DBR9
Courtsey of the FIA GT Championship
By Sam Tickell
Need a quick introduction to the world of FIA GT??? The basics are here including a quick description of the cars, the calender, the rules and the series history.
The FIA GT championship is the one of the most recognizable and successful sportscar championships in the world. This series boasts some of the biggest names in motorsport, both behind the wheel and powering the wheels.
The Classes
GT1
These cars are the ‘big-boys’ of GT racing. Boasting over 500 horsepower, huge grip levels and huge names, the racing is as huge as the cars. Although the rules to run in this category are different to the 24 Hours of Le Mans GT1 category, many teams race to those rules so they can run in the great race. This does not diminish the quality of the competition, however. The organising body has the power to give weight penalties to fast cars, ensuring good racing and controlled budgets. Ferrari, with their 550/575 models have been the powerhouse of the category over the previous years. The Maserati MC12, Aston Martin DBR-9 and Saleen S7-R will all be out to dethrone the 2005 Championship winning Ferrari.
GT2
This series is also very competitive. The cars are not as powerful as the GT1 cars but the budget is also significantly less. Like the GT1 category, weight penalties are given to the most successful cars, ensuring great racing and controlled budgets. The cars in this category are still very quick and spectacular to watch. Porsche dominated in 2005, beating the Ferrari 360 Modena’s to the title. 2006 should be much the same but occasional entries from the Dutch Spyker’s, Belgian Vertio’s and British TVR’s could cause an upset or two.
The Races
The FIA GT championship runs over 10 rounds. Starting in Romania in April the series races in 10 countries and two continents before finishing in Dubai in November. The series will be the first international event in recent memory to visit Romania, making history in modern motorsports. Visits to traditional motorsport venues like France, Italy, the UK, Czech Republic, Belgium and Germany will wow the race hungry fans. Finally races in China, Bahrain and Dubai make this a truly international series. Recognizing the importance of the 24 Hours of Le Mans, the series organisers have left the time round that race free for the competitors of this series to compete for Le Mans glory. The FIA GT also has their own blue ribbon event. Held in July, the Proximus 24 Hours, raced at Spa is one of the most challenging races held in any year. It commands huge entry lists and is always closely fought.
Other Rules
Each race in this series is raced over two to three hours. These endurance race distances demand multiple drivers for each car. Like most other endurance events, each driver must complete a minimum time in the car while not spending too much time continuously in the car. Additionally, the driver combinations may change from race to race, so while equal points are awarded to each driver each race, there may be one single champion. This happened in 2005 when Gabriele Gardel won the championship even though he had different partners during the season.
An interesting rule that almost caught out the 2005 champion is that there must be at least three litres of fuel in the tank after the race. If there is less than three litres of fuel found in the car after the event, that car can be disqualified from the event. This almost had dire consequences for the champion in 2005 that had to appeal exclusion after the final event for falling foul of this rule. It was only his post race celebrations which used more fuel than a regular slow down lap that (probably) saved him from losing the championship.
The Series
The series, directed by Stephane Ratel has developed into a very successful championship and has lasted where many other endurance and sportscar championships have failed. Teaming up with the World Touring Car Championship, the FIA GT Championship produces an action packed weekend of motor racing for the fans. Ratel also has a hand in the new GT3 European Championship, which should strengthen the FIA GT championship. For more information on the FIA GT Championship, visit www.fiagt.com.
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