GT World Challenge Europe explained

Category:Grand tourer
Endurance racing
Country/Region:International
Inaugural2:2014
Tyres:Pirelli (2014–present)
Champion Driver: Timur Boguslavskiy
Raffaele Marciello
Champion Team: AKKodis ASP Team
Current Season:2024 GT World Challenge Europe

GT World Challenge Europe (known as the Blancpain GT Series between 2014 and 2019) is a sports car racing series organised by SRO Motorsports Group. It features grand tourer racing cars modified from production road cars complying with the FIA's GT3 regulations.

The series is divided into two separate championships, the GT World Challenge Europe Sprint Cup and the GT World Challenge Europe Endurance Cup, with five weekends each for 2022. Each race meeting focuses on Sprint Cup OR Endurance Cup exclusively.

History

Although the GT World Challenge Europe Endurance Cup (then the Blancpain Endurance Series) has been organised since 2011, the inaugural season of the Blancpain GT Series was 2014, because in that year the FIA GT Series became the Blancpain Sprint Series, which is now the GT World Challenge Europe Sprint Cup. The series was primarily sponsored by Swiss watchmaker Blancpain.

After developing their partnership, Blancpain and the SRO have decided that 2016 will see both the Sprint and Endurance Series further integrated into the Blancpain GT Series, putting the emphasis on the prestigious overall drivers' and manufacturers' titles, and causing the Sprint Series name to change from Blancpain Sprint Series to Blancpain GT Series Sprint Cup and the Endurance Series name to change from Blancpain Endurance Series to Blancpain GT Series Endurance Cup.[1]

In 2019, SRO Group announced that their sponsorship agreement with Blancpain had come to an end, this resulted in the Blancpain GT Series being renamed the GT World Challenge Europe with the Blancpain GT Series Endurance Cup and Blancpain GT World Challenge Europe being renamed the GT World Challenge Europe Endurance Cup and Sprint Cup respectively.

Circuits

NumberCircuitsRoundsEndurance Rounds and YearsSprint Rounds and Years
1 Circuit Paul Ricard1010 (2014–present)0
Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps1010 (2014–present)0
Nürburgring107 (2014–2016, 2019–2021, 2023–present)3 (2016–2018)
4 Brands Hatch90 9 (2014–2019, 2021–present)
Misano World Circuit Marco Simoncelli90 9 (2015–present)
6 Monza Circuit88 (2014–2019, 2021, 2023–present)0
Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya86 (2017–2019, 2021–2023)2 (2016, 2020, 2024)
8 Circuit Zandvoort707 (2014–2015, 2019–2023)
9 Silverstone Circuit66 (2014–2019)0
10 Circuit Zolder404 (2014–2015, 2017–2018)
Hungaroring404 (2016–2019)
12 Circuit de Nevers Magny-Cours303 (2020–2022, 2024)
Circuit Ricardo Tormo303 (2021–2023)
14 Circuit Paul Armagnac202 (2014–2015)
Algarve International Circuit202 (2014–2015)
Imola Circuit22 (2020, 2022)0
Hockenheimring21 (2022)1 (2023–present)
18 Automotodróm Slovakia Ring101 (2014)
Baku World Challenge101 (2014)
Moscow Raceway101 (2015)
21 Jeddah Corniche Circuit00 (2024)0

Champions

Drivers

YearOverallSilver CupPro-Am CupAm CupGold CupBronze Cup
2014 Laurens Vanthoorrowspan=9
2015 Robin Frijns
2016 Dominik Baumann
Maximilian Buhk
Michał Broniszewski Claudio Sdanewitsch
2017 Mirko Bortolotti
Christian Engelhart
Alexander Mattschull David Perel
2018 Raffaele Marciello Nico Bastian
Jack Manchester
Nyls Stievenart
Markus Winkelhock
Adrian Amstutz
Leo Machitski
2019 Andrea Caldarelli
Marco Mapelli
Nico Bastian Andrea Bertolini
Louis Machiels
rowspan=5
2020 Timur Boguslavskiy Ezequiel Pérez Companc Chris Froggatt
Edward Cheever
2021 Dries Vanthoor
Charles Weerts
Alex Fontana Henrique Chaves
Miguel Ramos
2022 Raffaele Marciello Benjamin Goethe
Thomas Neubauer
Miguel Ramos
2023 Timur Boguslavskiy
Raffaele Marciello
Alex Aka
Lorenzo Patrese
Alex Fontana
Ivan Jacoma
Nicolas Leutwiler
Niklas Krütten
Calan Williams
Alex Malykhin

Teams

YearOverallSilver CupPro-Am CupAm CupGold CupBronze Cup
2014 Belgian Audi Club Team WRTrowspan=9
2015 Belgian Audi Club Team WRT
2016 (AMG - Team) HTP Motorsport Kessel Racing AF Corse/Kaspersky Motorsport
2017 GRT Grasser Racing Team Rinaldi Racing Kessel Racing
2018 (Mercedes-AMG Team) AKKA ASP / SMP Racing by AKKA ASP Saintéloc Racing Barwell Motorsport
2019 Orange1 FFF Racing Team AKKA ASP Team AF Corserowspan=5
2020 Belgian Audi Club Team WRT Madpanda Motorsport Sky - Tempesta Racing
2021 Team WRT Emil Frey Racing Barwell Motorsport
2022 AKKodis ASP Team Team WRT AF Corse
2023 AKKodis ASP Team Tresor Attempto Racing Car Collection Motorsport Boutsen VDS Pure Rxcing

See also

Notes and References

  1. News: About Blancpain GT Series. Blancpain GT Series. 31 March 2016. 27 April 2014. https://web.archive.org/web/20140427010700/http://www.blancpain-gt-series.com/about/blancpain-gt-series. dead.