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GT4 European Series

Category	Grand Tourer (SRO GT4)
Country	Europe
Inaugural season	2007
GT Classes	GT4
Drivers	49
Teams	27
Tyre suppliers	Pirelli
Official website	GT4 European Series
Current season

The GT4 European Series is a sports car championship created and organised by SRO Motorsports Group. It is a pro/am championship which utilizes SRO GT4 class cars, and runs alongside the GT World Challenge Europe as a support series.

History

Following the successful introduction of the FIA GT3 European Championship in 2006, the formula was expanded to include usage by other nationally based professional championships such as the British GT Championship, Belcar, Australian GT Championship and German ADAC GT Masters. While the FIA GT3 European Championship continues, the SRO felt that a true amateur championship was needed in order to complement GT3 which allowed a certain level of professional driver to compete. Many national series also adopted the GT4 regulations as a lower class, and the European Cup eventually lacked the competitors needed to continue. During the 2016 24 Hours of Spa, the Stéphane Ratel Organisation (SRO) announced that the European Cup would be divided in 2 different series for 2017. They are called the GT4 European Series Northern Cup and the GT4 European Series Southern Cup. The Northern Cup will be the same as the European Cup, while the Southern Cup will collect forces with the FFSA GT Championship. Since Stéphane Ratel spoke out about his firm belief in this class, many championships and constructors have followed. In 2018 the Southern Cup was renamed FFSA GT - GT4 France, while the Northern Cup became the sole GT4 European Series again.

Drivers

Like GT3, GT4 drivers have a set of criteria which would automatically eliminate them from competition based on their level of experience. Since GT4 class drivers are meant to be true amateurs, these criteria are tighter than that seen in GT3.

Drivers under the age of 30 are not allowed to have had a top-ten finish in any national or international single-seater championship, nor to have had a distinguishable career in a national or international GT championship. These drivers are known as Silver drivers. Drivers over the age of 30 who did not receive their racing licenses until after turning 30 and having no single-seater experience at all are also allowed in the series, under the term Bronze drivers.

Races

Just as in GT3, each event would consist of two races of equal distance, usually held on different days. Teams were not required to have two drivers and could use the same driver for each race.

Championship

The championship used the standard FIA point scheme for the top ten finishers: 25-18-15-12-10-8-6-4-2-1. If a team used different drivers for each race in a single event, both drivers would receive points. A driver and team championship were both held.

If at least five cars of the same make participate in a race, then a manufacturer cup would also be awarded, similar to the style used in GT3.

Champions

Drivers

Year	GT4	Light	Supersport
2007	Eric De Doncker	Not awarded	Not awarded
2008	Eric De Doncker	Christopher Haase
2009	Joe Osborne	Not awarded	Augustin Eder
2010	Paul Meijer		Gianni Giudici
2011	Ricardo van der Ende		Gianni Giudici
Year	Silver Cup	Pro (2013–2016) Pro-Am Cup (2017–)	Am (2013–2016) Am Cup (2017–)
2013	Not awarded	Ricardo van der Ende	Jörg Viehbahn
2014		Bernhard van Oranje Ricardo van der Ende	André Grammatico
2015		Jelle Beelen Marcel Nooren	Daniel Uckermann
2016		Peter Terting Jörg Viebahn	Jérôme Demay
2017	Ricardo van der Ende Max Koebolt	Luc Braams Duncan Huisman	Giuseppe Ghezzi
2018	Milan Dontje Nicolaj Møller Madsen	Markus Lungstrass	Niki Leutwiler
2019	Simon Knap Alec Udell	Marcus Påverud Luca Trefz	Pascal Bachmann Clément Seyler
2020	Valentin Hasse-Clot Théo Nouet	Bastian Buus Jan Kasperlik	Nicolas Gomar Gilles Vannelet
2021	Charlie Fagg Bailey Voisin	Grégory Guilvert Fabien Michal	Michael Blanchemain Christophe Hamon
2022	Roee Meyuhas Erwan Bastard	Jean-Luc Beaubelique Jim Pla	Mikhail Loboda  Andrey Solukvtsev
2023	Michael Schrey Gabriele Piana	Grégory Guilvert Christophe Hamon	Alban Varutti

Teams

Year	Overall
2007	Not awarded
2008	Motorsport98
2009	RJN Motorsport
2010	Rhesus Racing
2011	Ekris BMW/Racing Team Holland by Ekris Motorsport
2013	Ekris Motorsport
2014	Racing Team Holland by Ekris Motorsport
2015	V8 Racing
2016	PROsport Performance
Year	Silver Cup	Pro-Am Cup	Am Cup
2017	Ekris Motorsport	Las Moras Racing	Autorlando Sport
2018	Phoenix Racing	Racing One	TFT Racing
2019	MDM Motorsport	Leipert Motorsport	Street Art Racing
Year	Overall
2018	Racing One
2019	Leipert Motorsport
2020	AGS Events
Year	Silver Cup	Pro-Am Cup	Am Cup
2021	United Autosports	Saintéloc Racing	Team Fullmotorsport
2022	Saintéloc Racing	AKKodis ASP Team	AKKodis ASP Team
2023	Hofor Racing by Bonk Motorsport	Saintéloc Junior Team	AVR-Avvatar

Similar series

Since the introduction of the GT4 European Cup, the GT4 class of cars have been expanded to various national series. The British GT Championship and Belgian GT Championship allow GT4 and Super Sport class cars to compete alongside the GT3 class, while the stand-alone Dutch GT4 Championship ran its first season of competition 2009. The Spanish GT Cup Open Europe series also allows GT4 cars to compete with one-make cars. A GT4 championship plans to be run in Brazil in 2010. Norway introduced a national championship called GTF in 2014 featuring GT4 regulated cars. The Super Taikyu Series in Japan also includes a GT4 class called ST-Z. The United States–based ACCUS offers the GT4 America Series promoted by SRO and sanctioned by the United States Auto Club for one-hour sprint races, and the Michelin Pilot Challenge sanctioned by the International Motor Sports Association for longer races (2-4 hours).

References

1. "GT4 European Series Splits; Extended Schedule for 2017". sportscar365.com. Jake Kilshaw. December 29, 2016. Retrieved July 29, 2016.
2. "GT4 European Cup - News". Gt4cup.com. 2008-06-25. Archived from the original on 2011-08-07. Retrieved 2011-08-08.
3. "FIA GT Championship - News". Fiagt.com. Archived from the original on 2013-01-23. Retrieved 2011-08-08.

External links

• GT4 European Series
• GT4 European Cup
• Dutch GT4 Championship

• GT4 European Series
• GT4 (sports car class)
• Sports car racing series
• Recurring sporting events established in 2007