GT4 European Series

The GT4 European Series is a sports car championship created and organised by SRO Motorsports Group. It is an pro/am championship which followed a formula similar to the FIA GT3 European Championship, which was itself derived from the FIA GT Championship which utilized the GT1 and GT2 classes. The GT4 class cars are the least powerful of the four classes, yet are equalised in order to allow driving skill to become key.

GT4 European Series
CategoryGrand Tourer (GT4)
CountryEurope
Inaugural season2007
Drivers Simon Knap
Alec Udell
Teams Leipert Motorsport
Tyre suppliersPirelli
Official websiteGT4 European Series
Current season

History

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.

Vehicles

GT4 class cars are mostly what can be referred to as track day cars, which are factory-built race cars available to the public. However, custom-built cars based on production models can also be built by teams. All cars are test driven by the FIA and then modified so that they all have near identical performance levels. Once a car has been approved by the FIA, it cannot be modified by the teams, eliminating continual development costs for constructors. All cars run on regulated Pirelli tires to further equalize performance.

The following cars are currently homologated for GT4:

Nr.ManufacturerModelSinceExpirationDeveloper
RACB GT4-001 Ford Motor Company Ford Mustang FR500C GT4 Multimatic Motorsports
RACB GT4-002 Aston Martin Lagonda Global Holdings plc Aston Martin V8 Vantage (N24) Aston Martin
RACB GT4-004 BMW AG BMW Z4 M GT4 G & A Racing
RACB GT4-006 Nissan Motor Co.,Ltd Nissan 350Z RJN RJN Motorsports
RACB GT4-007 Porsche AG Porsche 997 GT3 MY06
RACB GT4-009 Ginetta Cars Ginetta G50 GT4 Ginetta Cars
RACB GT4-010 Chevrolet Chevrolet Corvette C6 GT4 Callaway Cars[2]
RACB GT4-011 BMW AG BMW M3 (E92) GT4 BMW Motorsport[3]
RACB GT4-012 Aston Martin Lagonda Global Holdings plc Aston Martin V8 Vantage GT4 01-04-2009 31-12-2018 Aston Martin
RACB GT4-013 Maserati S.p.A. Maserati GranTurismo MC Maserati
RACB GT4-014 Nissan Motor Co.,Ltd Nissan NISMO 370Z GT4 RJN Motorsports
RACB GT4-015 Lotus Cars Lotus Evora Cup GT4 25-07-2011 31-12-2018 Lotus Cars
RACB GT4-016 Chevrolet Chevrolet Camaro SS GT4 Riley Technologies[4]
RACB GT4-017 Porsche AG Porsche 997 Cup
RACB GT4-018 Hyundai Motor Company Genesis Coupé
RACB GT4-019 Ginetta Cars Ginetta G55 GT4 01-04-2014 31-12-2021 Ginetta Cars
RACB GT4-020 Toyota Motor Corporation Toyota GT86 GT4 GPRM
RACB GT4-021 KTM AG KTM X-Bow 02-12-2016 31-12-2023 Reiter Engineering
RACB GT4-022 SIN Cars SIN R1 GT4 01-01-2015 31-12-2019
RACB GT4-023 Chevron Racing Cars Ltd. Chevron GR8 GT4 Chevron
RACB GT4-024 Porsche AG Porsche Cayman GT4 Clubsport Manthey-Racing Manthey-Racing
RACB GT4-025 BMW AG BMW Ekris M4 GT4 Ekris Motorsport
RACB GT4-026 Maserati S.p.A. Maserati GranTurismo MC GT4 01-04-2016 31-12-2019 Maserati
RACB GT4-027 Ford Motor Company Ford Mustang GT4 01-03-2017 31-12-2024 Multimatic Motorsports
RACB GT4-028 Porsche AG Porsche Cayman PRO4 PROsport Performance
RACB GT4-029 BMW AG BMW M4 GT4
RACB GT4-030 McLaren Automotive McLaren 570S GT4 01-01-2017 31-12-2024
RACB GT4-031 Chevrolet Chevrolet Camaro GT4.R 01-03-2017 31-12-2024 Pratt & Miller[5]
RACB GT4-032 Saleen S1
RACB GT4-033 Mercedes-AMG GmbH Mercedes-AMG GT4
RACB GT4-034 Société des Automobiles Alpine SAS Alpine A110 GT4
RACB GT4-035 Panoz, LLC Panoz Avezzano GT4 Élan Motorsport Technologies
RACB GT4-036 Aston Martin Lagonda Global Holdings plc Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT4 Aston Martin
RACB GT4-037 Porsche AG Porsche 718 Cayman GT4 Clubsport MR
RACB GT4-038 Audi AG Audi R8 LMS GT4 Audi Sport
RACB GT4-039 Toyota Motor Corporation Toyota GR Supra GT4
RACB GT4-XXX Audi AG Audi TT GT4 Jorg Van Ommen Autosprot
RACB GT4-XXX Mazda Motor Corporation Mazda Miata MX-5 GT4 Jota Sport
RACB GT4-XXX Lotus Cars Lotus Exige GT4
RACB GT4-XXX Maserati S.p.A. Maserati Trofeo Light GT4 Scuderia Giudici
RACB GT4-XXX Porsche AG Porsche Cayman S GT4 GPR Racing
RACB GT4-xxx Bufori Bufori BMS R1
RACB GT4-xxx Donkervoort Automobielen BV Donkervoort D8 GT
RACB GT4-xxx Jaguar Jaguar F-Type SVR GT4 Invictus Games Racing
RACB GT4-xxx Lotus Cars Lotus 2-Eleven GT4 Supersport Lotus Cars
RACB GT4-xxx Peugeot Peugeot Spider THP Peugeot Sport
RACB GT4-xxx Radical Sportscars Radical RXC GT4
RACB GT4-xxx Roding Automobile Roding R1
RACB GT4-xxx YES! Beteiligungs und Besitzgesellschaft mbH YES! Clubsport

Drivers

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

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

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

Drivers

Year GT4 Light Supersport
2007 Eric De Doncker Not awarded Not awarded
2008 Eric De Doncker Christopher Haase
2009 Joe Osborne Not awarded Augustin Eder
2010 Paul Meijer Gianni Giudici
2011 Ricardo van der Ende Gianni Giudici
Year Silver Cup Pro (2013–2016)
Pro-Am Cup (2017–)
Am (2013–2016)
Am Cup (2017–)
2013 Not awarded Ricardo van der Ende Jörg Viebahn
2014 Bernhard van Oranje
Ricardo van der Ende
André Grammatico
2015 Jelle Beelen
Marcel Nooren
Daniel Uckermann
2016 Peter Terting
Jörg Viebahn
Jérôme Demay
2017 Ricardo van der Ende
Max Koebolt
Luc Braams
Duncan Huisman
Giuseppe Ghezzi
2018 Milan Dontje
Nicolaj Møller Madsen
Markus Lungstrass Niki Leutwiler
2019 Simon Knap
Alec Udell
Marcus Påverud
Luca Trefz
Pascal Bachmann
Clément Seyler

Teams

Year Overall
2007 Not awarded
2008 Motorsport98
2009 RJN Motorsport
2010 Rhesus Racing
2011 Ekris BMW/Racing Team Holland by Ekris Motorsport
2013 Ekris Motorsport
2014 Racing Team Holland by Ekris Motorsport
2015 V8 Racing
2016 PROsport Performance
Year Silver Cup Pro-Am Cup Am Cup
2017 Ekris Motorsport Las Moras Racing Autorlando Sport
2018 Phoenix Racing Racing One TFT Racing
2019 MDM Motorsport Leipert Motorsport Street Art Racing
Year Overall
2018 Racing One
2019 Leipert Motorsport

Similar series

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.[6] 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.[7] 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.

References

  1. "GT4 European Series Splits; Extended Schedule for 2017". sportscar365.com. Jake Kilshaw. December 29, 2016. Retrieved July 29, 2016.
  2. "Te Koop: 2X Chevrolet Corvette C6 GT4". Supercar Challenge. Archived from the original on 2018-04-05. Retrieved 2018-04-04.
  3. "Dutch GT4: BMW Motorsport presenteert de BMW M3 GT4". Autosport.nl.
  4. "Dutch GT4: Equipe Verschuur kiest voor Camaro". Autosport.nl.
  5. "Nederlands team V8-Racing haalt als eerste de Chevrolet Camaro GT4.R binnen + FOTO". Autosport.nl.
  6. "GT4 European Cup - News". Gt4cup.com. 2008-06-25. Archived from the original on 2011-08-07. Retrieved 2011-08-08.
  7. "FIA GT Championship - News". Fiagt.com. Archived from the original on 2013-01-23. Retrieved 2011-08-08.
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