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GT4 European Series

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
GT4 European Series
CategoryGrand Tourer (SRO GT4)
CountryEurope
Inaugural season2007
GT ClassesGT4
Drivers49
Teams27
Tyre suppliersPirelli
Official websiteGT4 European Series
Current season

The GT4 European Series is a sports car championship created and organised by SRO Motorsports Group. It is a pro/am championship which utilizes SRO GT4 class cars, and runs alongside the GT World Challenge Europe as a support series.

History

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Following the successful introduction of the FIA GT3 European Championship in 2006, the formula was expanded to include usage by other nationally based professional championships such as the British GT Championship, Belcar, Australian GT Championship and German ADAC GT Masters. While the FIA GT3 European Championship continues, the SRO felt that a true amateur championship was needed in order to complement GT3 which allowed a certain level of professional driver to compete. Many national series also adopted the GT4 regulations as a lower class, and the European Cup eventually lacked the competitors needed to continue. During the 2016 24 Hours of Spa, the Stéphane Ratel Organisation (SRO) announced that the European Cup would be divided in 2 different series for 2017.[1] They are called the GT4 European Series Northern Cup and the GT4 European Series Southern Cup. The Northern Cup will be the same as the European Cup, while the Southern Cup will collect forces with the FFSA GT Championship. Since Stéphane Ratel spoke out about his firm belief in this class, many championships and constructors have followed. In 2018 the Southern Cup was renamed FFSA GT - GT4 France, while the Northern Cup became the sole GT4 European Series again.

Drivers

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Like GT3, GT4 drivers have a set of criteria which would automatically eliminate them from competition based on their level of experience. Since GT4 class drivers are meant to be true amateurs, these criteria are tighter than that seen in GT3.

Drivers under the age of 30 are not allowed to have had a top-ten finish in any national or international single-seater championship, nor to have had a distinguishable career in a national or international GT championship. These drivers are known as Silver drivers. Drivers over the age of 30 who did not receive their racing licenses until after turning 30 and having no single-seater experience at all are also allowed in the series, under the term Bronze drivers.

Races

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Just as in GT3, each event would consist of two races of equal distance, usually held on different days. Teams were not required to have two drivers and could use the same driver for each race.

Championship

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The championship used the standard FIA point scheme for the top ten finishers: 25-18-15-12-10-8-6-4-2-1. If a team used different drivers for each race in a single event, both drivers would receive points. A driver and team championship were both held.

If at least five cars of the same make participate in a race, then a manufacturer cup would also be awarded, similar to the style used in GT3.

Champions

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Drivers

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Year GT4 Light Supersport
2007 Belgium Eric De Doncker Not awarded Not awarded
2008 Belgium Eric De Doncker Germany Christopher Haase
2009 United Kingdom Joe Osborne Not awarded Austria Augustin Eder
2010 Netherlands Paul Meijer Italy Gianni Giudici
2011 Netherlands Ricardo van der Ende Italy Gianni Giudici
Year Silver Cup Pro (2013–2016)
Pro-Am Cup (2017–)
Am (2013–2016)
Am Cup (2017–)
2013 Not awarded Netherlands Ricardo van der Ende Germany Jörg Viehbahn
2014 Netherlands Bernhard van Oranje
Netherlands Ricardo van der Ende
France André Grammatico
2015 Netherlands Jelle Beelen
Netherlands Marcel Nooren
Austria Daniel Uckermann
2016 Germany Peter Terting
Germany Jörg Viebahn
France Jérôme Demay
2017 Netherlands Ricardo van der Ende
Netherlands Max Koebolt
Netherlands Luc Braams
Netherlands Duncan Huisman
Italy Giuseppe Ghezzi
2018 Netherlands Milan Dontje
Denmark Nicolaj Møller Madsen
Germany Markus Lungstrass Switzerland Niki Leutwiler
2019 Netherlands Simon Knap
United States Alec Udell
Norway Marcus Påverud
Germany Luca Trefz
Switzerland Pascal Bachmann
Luxembourg Clément Seyler
2020 France Valentin Hasse-Clot
France Théo Nouet
Denmark Bastian Buus
Germany Jan Kasperlik
France Nicolas Gomar
France Gilles Vannelet
2021 United Kingdom Charlie Fagg
United Kingdom Bailey Voisin
France Grégory Guilvert
France Fabien Michal
France Michael Blanchemain
France Christophe Hamon
2022 Israel Roee Meyuhas
France Erwan Bastard
France Jean-Luc Beaubelique
France Jim Pla
Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile Mikhail Loboda
Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile Andrey Solukvtsev
2023 Germany Michael Schrey
Italy Gabriele Piana
France Grégory Guilvert
France Christophe Hamon
France Alban Varutti

Teams

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Year Overall
2007 Not awarded
2008 Belgium Motorsport98
2009 United Kingdom RJN Motorsport
2010 Netherlands Rhesus Racing
2011 Netherlands Ekris BMW/Racing Team Holland by Ekris Motorsport
2013 Netherlands Ekris Motorsport
2014 Netherlands Racing Team Holland by Ekris Motorsport
2015 Netherlands V8 Racing
2016 Germany PROsport Performance
Year Silver Cup Pro-Am Cup Am Cup
2017 Netherlands Ekris Motorsport Netherlands Las Moras Racing Italy Autorlando Sport
2018 Germany Phoenix Racing Germany Racing One France TFT Racing
2019 Netherlands MDM Motorsport Germany Leipert Motorsport Belgium Street Art Racing
Year Overall
2018 Germany Racing One
2019 Germany Leipert Motorsport
2020 France AGS Events
Year Silver Cup Pro-Am Cup Am Cup
2021 United Kingdom United Autosports France Saintéloc Racing France Team Fullmotorsport
2022 France Saintéloc Racing France AKKodis ASP Team France AKKodis ASP Team
2023 Switzerland Hofor Racing by Bonk Motorsport France Saintéloc Junior Team France AVR-Avvatar

Similar series

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Since the introduction of the GT4 European Cup, the GT4 class of cars have been expanded to various national series. The British GT Championship and Belgian GT Championship allow GT4 and Super Sport class cars to compete alongside the GT3 class, while the stand-alone Dutch GT4 Championship ran its first season of competition 2009.[2] The Spanish GT Cup Open Europe series also allows GT4 cars to compete with one-make cars. A GT4 championship plans to be run in Brazil in 2010.[3] Norway introduced a national championship called GTF in 2014 featuring GT4 regulated cars. The Super Taikyu Series in Japan also includes a GT4 class called ST-Z. The United States–based ACCUS offers the GT4 America Series promoted by SRO and sanctioned by the United States Auto Club for one-hour sprint races, and the Michelin Pilot Challenge sanctioned by the International Motor Sports Association for longer races (2-4 hours).

References

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  1. ^ "GT4 European Series Splits; Extended Schedule for 2017". sportscar365.com. Jake Kilshaw. December 29, 2016. Retrieved July 29, 2016.
  2. ^ "GT4 European Cup - News". Gt4cup.com. 2008-06-25. Archived from the original on 2011-08-07. Retrieved 2011-08-08.
  3. ^ "FIA GT Championship - News". Fiagt.com. Archived from the original on 2013-01-23. Retrieved 2011-08-08.
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