FIA GT Championship
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2008-07-08T01:39:24Z
The359
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Better picture location, and an actual description
[[Image:FIAGTLogo.jpg|200px|right]]
The '''FIA GT Championship''' is a [[sports car racing]] series organized by the [[Stéphane Ratel Organisation]] (SRO) at the behest of the [[Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile]] (FIA). The championship is mostly concentrated in [[Europe]], but throughout the years has visited other continents, most lately visiting [[Asia]].
== Regulations ==
FIA currently defines two categories of [[grand tourer|GT cars]]: GT1, or '''Grand Touring Cars''', and GT2, or '''Series Grand Touring Cars'''. Each category has an annual driver champion, team champion, and manufacturer champion. Both categories are based on production road car designs, which must be produced in a [[homologation|minimum quantity of 25 examples]] to qualify. Both types may undergo significant modifications from the road car they are based on, but GT1 allows the use of exotic materials, better [[aerodynamics]], larger [[brake]]s, wider [[tire]]s and larger engine admission restrictors.
For the [[2006]] season, the FIA has created a new class called GT3. GT3 cars are even closer to their production counterparts and are very simply racetrack prepared with the essentials (rollcages for safety, stripped interiors, race spec fuel tanks, etc.). Prestigious motorsports makes such as [[Aston Martin]], [[Chevrolet]], [[Dodge]], [[Lamborghini]], [[Ascari Cars|Ascari]] and [[Maserati]] take part in [[FIA GT3 European Championship]], a support series in some rounds of the main championship.
The FIA defines a [[Grand tourer|GT car]] as "an open or closed automobile which has no more than one door on each side and a minimum of two seats situated one on each side of the longitudinal centre line of the car; these two seats must be crossed by the same transversal plane. This car must be able to be used perfectly legally on the open road, and adapted for racing on circuits or closed courses."
All races in the FIA GT Championship were [[endurance racing|of endurance type]], a full race distance lasting a minimum of 500km or a maximum of three hours, with the exception of the [[Spa 24 Hours]] and the exhibition [[Mil Milhas Brasil|Mil Milhas Brasileiras]], which is run over a thousand miles and was planned to be a round of the championship in [[2007]]. However, with the release of the [[2007 FIA GT Championship season]] schedule and rules, the FIA GT series becomes more of a sprint race event, with all races being a maximum of 2 hours with the exception of the [[Spa 24 Hours]], and no Mil Milhas on the schedule.
==History==
[[Image:C5R and Maserati.JPG|thumb|right|200px|A [[Maserati MC12]] competing against a [[Chevrolet Corvette C5-R]].]]
:''For information on the earlier series, see [[BPR Global GT Series]].''
In 1997, due to increasing interest from manufacturers such as [[Mercedes-Benz]], [[Porsche]] and [[Panoz]], the FIA took over control of the expanding [[BPR Global GT Series]], standardizing the race-length at 500 km instead of the usual four hours, liberalizing the technical regulations and leaving commercial exploitation in the hands of one of BPR's founders, Stéphane Ratel, who managed to get TV support from the pan-European TV station [[Eurosport]]. The new manufacturers built "homologation specials", racing-bred cars that took full advantage of the new rules, to build quasi-prototypes with very limited production runs of 25 cars. [[Chrysler Corporation|Chrysler]], [[Lister Cars|Lister]] and Marcos, not wanting to accompany the cost escalation, moved down to the GT2 class.
This proved to be the wisest move, as Mercedes completely dominated the new category and the other manufacturers pulled out after the end of the 1998 season. This left Chrysler's [[Dodge Viper|Viper]] to become the dominating car in the series, with the aging Porsche 993 GT2 and the [[Lister Storm]] providing a certain degree of competition.
However, there was no lower inexpensive category for amateur drivers, and this led to the creation of the N-GT class in 2000. While the manufacturer field in the main class blossomed, the new category became swamped with Porsches and Ferraris, but lower running costs meant both classes enjoyed a balanced number of entries. In order to boost the championship's status, the SRO added the [[24 Hours of Spa]], previously a [[touring car racing|touring car race]], to the calendar, where it became the series' most important race. The FIA also banned official manufacturer involvement, although certain teams had preferential treatment, with Porsche establishing a "round robin" system.
After the end of the 2004 season, the FIA renamed the classes GT1 and GT2, and somewhat liberalized the GT1 regulations, allowing "supercars". While this was made to accommodate the [[Saleen S7]], the biggest beneficiary was the purpose-built [[Maserati MC12]], which lead the FIA to impose aerodynamic limitations on the Italian car. However, thanks to a weight penalty system, the fight for the championship is protected from more domineering cars. The level of competition remains tight, with gentlemen drivers managing to fight for the wins with professional drivers, some of them with [[Formula 1]] experience.
===Split with the World Touring Car Championship===
Before 2006, both the [[World Touring Car Championship]] (WTCC) and the FIA GT Championship were broadcast by [[Eurosport]]. But Eurosport requested SRO, the FIA GT Championship organizers, to shorten their races from 3 hours to 2 hours. SRO refused and since then it has not been on the bill with the WTCC.
Ironically, after a year looking for European broadcasters for their 3 hour races, the SRO decided that for 2007, the FIA GT Championship races will be shortened to 2 hours.
==Champions==
{| class="wikitable"
!
! Title
! GT1
! GT2
|-
! rowspan=2 | [[1997 FIA GT Championship season|1997]]
|Driver
| {{flagicon|Germany}} [[Bernd Schneider (racecar driver)|Bernd Schneider]]
| {{flagicon|United Kingdom}} [[Justin Bell]]
|-
|Team
| {{flagicon|Germany}} [[Mercedes-AMG|AMG-Mercedes]] - [[Mercedes-Benz CLK-GTR]]
| {{flagicon|France}} [[Oreca]] - [[Chrysler Viper GTS-R]]
|-
! rowspan=2 | [[1998 FIA GT Championship season|1998]]
|Driver
| {{flagicon|Germany}} [[Klaus Ludwig]]<br>
{{flagicon|Brazil}} [[Ricardo Zonta]]
| {{flagicon|Monaco}} [[Olivier Beretta]]<br>{{flagicon|Portugal}} [[Pedro Lamy]]
|-
|Team
| {{flagicon|Germany}} [[Mercedes-AMG|AMG-Mercedes]] - [[Mercedes-Benz CLK-GTR|Mercedes-Benz CLK-LM]]
| {{flagicon|France}} [[Oreca]] - [[Chrysler Viper GTS-R]]
|-
!
|
! colspan=2 | GT
|-
! rowspan=2 | [[1999 FIA GT Championship season|1999]]
|Driver
| colspan=2 | {{flagicon|Monaco}} [[Olivier Beretta]]<br>{{flagicon|Austria}} [[Karl Wendlinger]]
|-
|Team
| colspan=2 | {{flagicon|France}} [[Oreca]] - [[Chrysler Viper GTS-R]]
|-
!
|
! GT
! N-GT
|-
! rowspan=2 | [[2000 FIA GT Championship season|2000]]
|Driver
| {{flagicon|United Kingdom}} [[Julian Bailey]]<br>{{flagicon|United Kingdom}} [[Jamie Campbell-Walter]]
| {{flagicon|France}} [[Christophe Bouchut]]<br>{{flagicon|France}} [[Patrice Goueslard]]
|-
|Team
| {{flagicon|United Kingdom}} [[Lister Cars|Lister Racing]] - [[Lister Storm]]
| {{flagicon|France}} [[Larbre Compétition]] - [[Porsche 911 GT3]]-R
|-
! rowspan=2 | [[2001 FIA GT Championship season|2001]]
|Driver
| {{flagicon|France}} [[Christophe Bouchut]]<br>{{flagicon|France}} [[Jean-Philippe Belloc]]
| {{flagicon|Italy}} [[Christian Pescatori]]<br>{{flagicon|France}} [[David Terrien]]
|-
|Team
| {{flagicon|France}} [[Larbre Compétition]] - [[Chrysler Viper GTS-R]]
| {{flagicon|France}} [[JMB Racing]] - [[Ferrari 360 Modena]]
|-
! rowspan=2 | [[2002 FIA GT Championship season|2002]]
|Driver
| {{flagicon|France}} [[Christophe Bouchut]]
| {{flagicon|France}} [[Stéphane Ortelli]]
|-
|Team
| {{flagicon|France}} [[Larbre Compétition]] - [[Chrysler Viper GTS-R]]
| {{flagicon|Germany}} [[Freisinger Motorsport|Freisinger]] - [[Porsche 911 GT3]]-RS
|-
! rowspan=2 | [[2003 FIA GT Championship season|2003]]
|Driver
| {{flagicon|Italy}} [[Thomas Biagi]]<br>{{flagicon|Italy}} [[Matteo Bobbi]]
| {{flagicon|France}} [[Stéphane Ortelli]]<br>{{flagicon|Germany}} [[Marc Lieb]]
|-
|Team
| {{flagicon|Italy}} [[BMS Scuderia Italia]] - [[Ferrari 550 Maranello]]
| {{flagicon|Germany}} [[Freisinger Motorsport|Freisinger]] - [[Porsche 911 GT3]]-RSR
|-
! rowspan=2 | [[2004 FIA GT Championship season|2004]]
|Driver
| {{flagicon|Italy}} [[Fabrizio Gollin]]<br>{{flagicon|Italy}} [[Luca Cappellari]]
| {{flagicon|Germany}} [[Sascha Maassen]]<br>{{flagicon|Germany}} [[Lucas Luhr]]
|-
|Team
| {{flagicon|Italy}} [[BMS Scuderia Italia]] - [[Ferrari 550 Maranello]]
| {{flagicon|Germany}} [[Freisinger Motorsport|Freisinger]] - [[Porsche 911 GT3]]-RSR
|-
!
|
! GT1
! GT2
|-
! rowspan=2 | [[2005 FIA GT Championship season|2005]]
|Driver
| {{flagicon|Switzerland}} [[Gabriele Gardel]]
| {{flagicon|Germany}} [[Marc Lieb]]<br>{{flagicon|Germany}} [[Mike Rockenfeller]]
|-
|Team
| {{flagicon|Germany}} [[Vitaphone Racing]] - [[Maserati MC12]]
| {{flagicon|United Kingdom}} [[Gruppe M]] - [[Porsche 911 GT3]]-RSR
|-
! rowspan=2 | [[2006 FIA GT Championship season|2006]]
|Driver
| {{flagicon|Germany}} [[Michael Bartels]]<br>{{flagicon|Italy}} [[Andrea Bertolini]]
| {{flagicon|Brazil}} [[Jaime Melo]]
|-
|Team
| {{flagicon|Germany}} [[Vitaphone Racing]] - [[Maserati MC12]]
| {{flagicon|Italy}} [[AF Corse]] - [[Ferrari F430]] GT2
|-
! rowspan=2 | [[2007 FIA GT Championship season|2007]]
|Driver
| {{flagicon|Italy}} [[Thomas Biagi]]
| {{flagicon|Germany}} [[Dirk Müller]]<br>{{flagicon|Finland}} [[Toni Vilander]]
|-
|Team
| {{flagicon|Germany}} [[Vitaphone Racing]] - [[Maserati MC12]]
| {{flagicon|Italy}} [[Motorola]] [[AF Corse]] - [[Ferrari F430]] GT2
|-
! rowspan=2 | [[2008 FIA GT Championship season|2008]]
|Driver
|
|
|-
|Team
|
|
|}
==See also==
*[[Gran Turismo (racing)]]
*[[GTR - FIA GT Racing Game]]
*[[GTR - FIA GT Racing Game 2]]
*[[BPR Global GT Series]]
*[[World Sportscar Championship]]
==External links==
* [http://www.fiagt.com/ FIA GT Championship official site]
* [http://www.fia.com/ FIA International]
* [http://www.fia.com/sport/Championships/Secondary/2006/gt.html 2006 FIA GT Championship Course Dates]
* [http://www.fia.com/sport/Regulations/gtregs.html GT Rules and Regulations]
{{DEFAULTSORT:Fia Gt Championship}}
[[Category:FIA]]
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[[Category:FIA GT Championship| ]]
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