Spanish GT Championship explained

Category:Grand tourer sportscars
Country/Region:
Inaugural:1999
Folded:2013
Tyres:Dunlop
Champion Driver: Dimitris Deverikos
Isaac Tutumlu

The Spanish GT Championship / Iber GT (Campeonato de España de GT / Iber GT) was a Spanish auto racing series founded in 1999 and organised by the GT Sport Organización. The series runs multiple classes of grand tourer cars in events around Spain and Portugal. The series later formed the basis for the International GT Open, a European-wide series which follows a similar structure.

Format

For racing events, Spanish GT has changed very little since its inception. Each event consists of two races of equal distance, one run on Saturday and the other on Sunday. Each race has its own qualifying session to determine the grid. The races both count towards the points championship, effectively doubling the series schedule.

Initially, three classes of cars were used for the series, termed GT2, GT3, and GT4. This was soon replaced by the GTA, GTB, and GTC classes. These cars ranged from the FIA's GT2 class equivalent down to cars from one make series. The slowest class, GTC, was eliminated in 2001, only to return in 2004. A new GTS class was introduced in 2005, initially for the custom-built SEAT Toledo GT, but was adapted in 2006 to use cars from the FIA GT3 European Championship, originally without scoring points in the first year.

In the current format, the GTA class is dominated by the Ferrari F430 GT2, Porsche 911 GT3-RSR, Mosler MT900R, and the custom-built Sun Red SR21. GTS uses GT3 versions of the Ferrari F430, Porsche 911, Lamborghini Gallardo and Dodge Viper Competition Coupe. GTB is retained for one-make cup regulation versions of the F430 and 911, as well as the Marcos Mantis.

The Spanish GT Championship shares several race weekends with the European F3 Open Championship, also run by the GT Sport Organización.

Champions

An overall combined drivers championship is awarded each season, adding overall points to class points, which can mean a driver from a lower class of car can be crowned the series champion. Along with this, each individual class also awards their own champion.

SeasonOverallGT2GT3GT4
1999 Antonio Puig
Javier Camp
Carlos Palau Antonio Puig
Javier Camp
Ángel Romero
Manuel Rosado Domínguez
OverallGTAGTBGTC
2000 Miguel Ángel de Castro
Balba Camino
Miguel Ángel de Castro
Balba Camino
Fermín Vélez
Javier Díaz
Luis C. Maurel
2001 Alberto Castello
Carlos Palau
Alberto Castello
Carlos Palau
Javier Díaz
2002 Miguel Ramos
Pedro Chaves
Miguel Ramos
Pedro Chaves
Juan Bastos
2003 Gines Vivancos Miguel Ángel de Castro
Balba Camino
Luis Pérez-Sala
Manuel Cerqueda
Enrique de la Cuerda
Jorge Enríquez
2004 Shaun Balfe
Nigel Taylor
Miguel Ángel de Castro
Angel Burgueño
Luis Pérez-Sala
Manuel Cerqueda
Francesc Robert
2005 Giambattista Giannoccaro Giambattista Giannoccaro Pedro Bastos
Miguel Cristóvão
José Luis Bermúdez de Castro
2006 Michele Bartyan Michele Bartyan César Rodrigo
Daniel Rodrigo
2007 Peter Sundberg
Domingo Romero
Peter Sundberg
Domingo Romero
Óscar Fernández
José Manuel Pérez-Aicart
OverallGTAGTSGTB
2008 Peter Sundberg Peter Sundberg Javier Díaz Antonio Puig
Alfredo Palencia
OverallSuper GTGTSGT Light
2009 Lourenço Beirão da Veiga
Ricardo Bravo
Lourenço Beirão da Veiga
Ricardo Bravo
Antonio Castro
Jesús Diez Villarroel
Ben Clucas
Francisco Lorena
2010 Francisco Cruz Martins Manuel Gião
Juan Manuel López
César Campaniço
João Figueiredo
Oliver Campos-Hull
Kosta Kanaroglou
2011 Manuel Gião Manuel Gião César Campaniço
João Figueiredo
Miguel Toril
Pol Rosell
2012 Mikko Eskelinen Mikko Eskelinen Rafael Unzurrunzaga Francesc Gutiérrez
Luis Villalba
OverallSuper GTGTSGentlemen
2013 Isaac Tutumlu
Dimitris Deverikos
Isaac Tutumlu
Dimitris Deverikos
not attributed Alexander Talkanitsa Sr.

External links