British GT will scrap its GT3 Silver class for next season as part of a restructuring of the class in order to keep Pro-Am pairings competitive.
From next year onwards, SIlver rated drivers will only allowed to compete with a Bronze rated driver in a new proposed Silver-Am class.
The move comes due to an increase in the numbers of Silver entries and the decline in the series traditional Pro-Am pairings due to the Covid-19 pandemic and the late season start.
Of the season’s eighth races so far only three have been won by the traditional championship winning Pro-Am with Silver crews Sam De Haan/Patrick Kujala (RAM Mercedes) and Sandy Mitchell/Rob Collard (Barwell Lamborghini) hold the top two positions in the standings with one round to go at Silverstone.
A Silver rated driver is an aspiring or inexperienced professional driver and all Silver Crews have to run with more weight to compensate against Pro-Am entries which has lead to disagreements.
A championship statement explained the change will be made “to redress the balance while maintaining a viable environment for young, would-be professionals to develop and prosper”.
The proposed Silver-Am class would also accept entries at the series’ discretion, as not all drivers that are encompassed in the FIA’s broad Silver ranking will “automatically qualify”.
“Instead, the silver element will typically comprise promising but less experienced young drivers, GT4 graduates or those likely to contribute some budget when paired with a Bronze-graded amateur,” it said.
The changes will only affect the GT3 class as there are no plans to make any alterations to the GT4 class, despite all but two entries this season has been all Silver crews.
The series also unveiled its calendar for the 2021 season and it sees a return for the overseas round at Spa-Francorchamps bringing the schedule back to the seven rounds across nine races that were originally planned this year.
The season will start with its traditional Easter race at Oulton Park and finish with a Two hour race at Donington in September.
2021 British GT calendar (provisional)
3-5 April: Oulton Park (2x 1-hour races)
24/25 April: Snetterton (2x 1-hour races)
22/23 May: Brands Hatch GP (1x 2-hour race)
26/27 June: Silverstone 500 (1x 3-hour race)
10/11 July*: Donington Park (1x 2-hour race)
24/25 July: Spa-Francorchamps (1x 2-hour race)
11/12 September*: Donington Park (1x 2-hour race)
