A visit to the legendary Belgian Grand Prix circuit of Spa-Francorchamps is back on the Avon Tyres British GT Championship agenda for 2010 after lengthy calendar negotiations came to fruition for series promoter SRO. British GT cars will now race at Spa on 4/5 June, rather than at the mid-May Magny-Cours meeting.
"This is great news for the championship and for the competitors," said British GT manager Benjamin Franasovicci. "When we published the calendar back in November there was no Spa option available to us, but that has changed now. Although we are sorry not to be visiting Magny-Cours, we are delighted to be going to Europe's best sports car racing circuit."
The new Spa date also gives the championship the opportunity to try a new race format: it will be a 150-minute race rather than the usual format of twin one-hour races or a single two-hour endurance event. "Moving to a two-and-a-half-hour format with two pit stops will be novel for the teams and gives us the option of permitting three-driver entries," adds Franasovicci.
One of the 2009 British GT racewinners at Spa, Aaron Scott, is delighted by the prospect of a return to Belgium: "Craig Wilkins and I are both really pleased - I can't imagine that any driver in British GT would be disappointed with the prospect of racing at Spa. I think the three-driver idea will be attractive to many teams also. It's all good news."
A further, small revision to the 2010 Avon Tyres British GT Championship calendar is the switch from an early July date at Snetterton to an August Bank Holiday weekend visit to the Norfolk circuit. Otherwise, the provisional calendar remains as published in November, with double-header 60-minute races - alongside Cooper Tires British F3 - at Oulton Park, Rockingham, Snetterton and Brands Hatch; as well as a visit to Knockhill in Scotland and two-hour endurance races on the Silverstone Grand Prix circuit and 'into the night' at Donington Park.
All events will feature a revised format devised in consultation with the teams. There will be no testing on the Friday - saving teams and drivers a full day at the track - with two one-hour free practice sessions, as well as two 15-minute qualifying sessions, scheduled for the Saturday. All races will take place on the final day of the meeting.
SRO has also confirmed the continuation of excellent TV coverage of the championship: races will be featured in half-hour shows on Channel 4 in the UK, and in 60-minute Motors TV programmes across Europe.
Revised provisional calendar 2010 Avon Tyres British GT Championship03-05 Apr Oulton Park with British F308/09 May Knockhill04/05 Jun Spa-Francorchamps (2.5hr race)17/18 Jul Rockingham with British F314/15 Aug Silverstone GP (2hr race) with British F329/30 Aug Snetterton with British F325/26 Sep Brands Hatch GP with British F316/17 Oct Donington Park (2hr race)
