As part of SRO‘s new introductions and revolutions for the 2018 season, the organisation has announced a bigger commitment to Pro-Am racing in all of its series as well as the promise of extra prize money in the Blancpain GT Series.
The SRO, who run a variety of top-flight GT and Endurance series around the world including the Blancpain GT Series and International GT Challenge, have recently announced new plans ahead of the 2018 season. Focus will return primarily to getting Pro-Am line-ups back into their series as only a handful have been featured this season.
SRO claim it is to “preserve the status of the amateur driver as the backbone of the series,” though could be in part an initiative to give the series more money, which it intends to use to increase the prize pool for those at the top.
2018 is planned to be a big year for the organisation, that has quickly gained traction as the ‘FIA of GT Racing’. With the seventieth running of the 24 Hours of Spa next year, a return or increase on the 63 entries seen this year will be vital for the series.
As for the rest of the Blancpain GT series, it will remain largely unchanged with the continued split of the Endurance and Sprint Cup, though Zolder will swap with Misano to become the season opener.
Restructuring of the worldwide role of the GT4 class could also be a major change as semi-separate ‘GT4 Cup‘ are planned for Blancpain GT Asia and British GT. Both championships will see the GT4’s headline at least one solo race in a move to give them further coverage above the more powerful GT3’s.
Proof that SRO could be switching focus to GT4’s can be seen in Europe as the organisers have revealed a Southern GT4 Cup could join the existing Central European GT4 Cup from next year. All of the regional series will be run as Pro-Am.
“I am delighted to confirm that all the series organized by the SRO Motorsports Group show a clean bill of health.” said Stephane Ratel.
“Not only do teams and drivers want to be part of modern GT racing, but an ever-increasing number of race fans thoroughly appreciate the spectacle that is on offer. As the SRO Motorsports Group, we will do our utmost best to provide them with the best GT racing in the world for years to come.”
