FIA GT World Series titles are set to be awarded on the basis of points scored in Stephane Ratel’s new-for-2013 GT Sprint Series and his Blancpain Endurance Series next season.
Ratel proposed such a plan in July, and has now revealed that he has reached an agreement in principle with FIA President Jean Todt for competitors in the two series to compete for manufacturers’ and teams’ titles.
He formulated the plan following his decision not to continue running the FIA GT1 World Championship after the end of this season.
The move is dependent on Ratel adding a second event outside Europe to his GT Sprint Series, which is due to begin in Abu Dhabi in February. He said that races at the Buddh International Circuit in India and Interlagos in Brazil were candidates.
“The title FIA GT World Series sounds good,” he said. “It is a different arrangement to before, but a good compromise.
“It needs to go through all the procedures, but the only thing we need is a race on a third continent [an event in India would count].
“Some teams are saying they don’t want a second race outside Europe, but I ask them, ‘Do you want a world title?'”
Ratel’s plan is to integrate the GT Sprint Series with the BES so that teams can use the same GT3 machinery in each. The respective calendars of the two series have been set up with a minimum of two weeks between each race.
Two-car teams will be mandatory in the seven-round GT Sprint Series. Its class structure will mirror that of the BES, which will comprise five events in 2013, with Pro, Pro-Am and Am categories.
