Official website (this may be moved if/when the championship name is officially changed to GT from GT1)
Schedule (amended August 2012)
1. Nogaro - April 9
2. Zolder - April 22
3. Navarra - May 27
4. Slovakia Ring - June 10
5. Algarve - July 8
6. Slovakia Ring II - August 19
7. Moscow - September 2
8. Nurburgring - September 23
Teams and drivers
This is still quite sketchy at the moment. The big non-racing story of last year was series boss Stéphane Ratel's attempt to ensure a viable field for the 2012; this seems to be achieved by allowing GT3-spec cars to compete alongside existing GT1 machinery. The Balance of Performance will thus be extended to even out the speed differential between the classes, as well as those between the different types of cars.
At the moment, the current situation is as follows:
Hexis Racing will switch from Aston Martin to the McLaren MP4-12C GT3.
All-Inkl.com Münnich Motorsport will also change allegiances, from Lamborghini to the Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG GT3.
The Belgian WRT team will step up from the FIA GT3 European Championship and Blancpain Endurance Series with their customary Audi R8 LMS Ultra.
2010 champions Vitaphone Racing will return to the championship after a year away with the BMW Z4 GT3.
This means that all of the fully confirmed entries will be running cars that have not previously competed in the championship.
JR Motorsport (2011 champions) and Young Driver AMR were also provisionally entered at the time of the Spa 24 Hours last year, but JRM has graduated to LMP1 in the World Endurance championship and will probably not defend its title. Marc VDS and its satellite team, Belgian Racing, were also entered at this time but have since withdrawn in favour of the Blancpain championship.
So far it looks to be an exciting season in prospect, with a plethora of new machinery (but with familiar faces driving it, no doubt). Securing the return of Vitaphone is a major boost for the series, in my opinion.
Edited by midgrid, 02 August 2012 - 14:02.