Weekly Racing Roundup (12.30.19)

Australian GT Finalizes 2020 Schedules

Australian GT championship teams will be able to take their six best results from the season for the newly revised Trophy Series, which will be offered on ten weekends next year.

Confirmed as the final component of its 2020 schedules, the championship, which caters to 2016 or older GT3-spec machinery, will be combined with events in both the Australian GT Championship and Australian Endurance Series.

“There has been much discussion amongst teams with Trophy Series cars about varying the calendar to provide a wider range of events,” rights holder Jim Manolios said.

“Trophy Series is the entry point into our sport for many drivers, and now they can put their toe in the water during the State Series rounds, score points and then progress to some of the best venues in the country like Bathurst, Phillip Island and The Bend.

“The 2020 calendar also includes additional standalone events alongside the Endurance Championship, whilst also providing an earlier start to the season for those Trophy Series teams, whilst the outright cars enjoy their start to the year at the Bathurst 12 Hour.”

The season will begin with State Series rounds at Sandown and Sydney Motorsports Park, both of which will award half points, followed by joint Australian GT events at Phillip Island and the first of two visits to Bathurst, along with various other venues.

The Trophy Series will consist of two 60-minute races for the majority of the season, with the exception at Sandown where the format will include two, six-lap races and a single 50-minute race.

2020 Australian GT Trophy Series Schedule
Feb. 14-16 –  Sandown**
March 6-8 – Sydney Motorsport Park**
March 20-22 – Phillip Island
April 10-12 – Bathurst#
May 15-17 – Barbagallo
Aug. 14-16 – Phillip Island#
Sept. 18-20 –  The Bend Motorsport Park
Oct. 8-11 – Bathurst
Oct. 30 – Nov. 1 – Gold Coast
Nov. 20-22 –  Sandown
**half points
#standalone AGTTS races

News & Notes

***WRT is set to compete in ADAC GT Masters full-time for the first time next year, with up to two Audi R8 LMS GT3 Evos entered by the Belgian squad with yet-to-be-announced driver lineups. 

***Morand Cars has revealed plans to build a hybrid road-legal hypercar. The company was set up by Benoit Morand, who was in charge of the first LMP1 hybrid to compete at the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 2011.

***The Sports Prototype Cup’s Revolution Trophy will compete on the FIA World Endurance Championship 6 Hours of Spa support bill in April as part of the weekend’s two 50-minute Britcar races.

***The Revolution is a lightweight prototype fitting between LMP3 and Radical SR3 performance levels. The series will also compete with standalone races during Britcar weekends at Donington Park, Silverstone, Snetterton and Portimao.

***Team GMB will make its GT World Challenge Asia debut with a Mercedes-AMG GT4 for Hiroaki Hatano and Takumi Kuroiwa. The Japanese team was established in 1991 but hasn’t raced since its final All Japan GT Championship program in 2003.

***”Ford v Ferrari” has surpassed $100 million in the box offices in the U.S., with the Hollywood motion picture, starring Matt Damon and Christian Bale, having been a popular film worldwide. Bale, who played Ken Miles, has been nominated for a Golden Globe as best actor in a dramatic film.

***Two-time 24 Hours of Le Mans class winner Ron Fellows has been named to the Order of Canada, the country’s second highest honor for merit in the system of orders, decorations, and medals. The former Corvette Racing driver has remained active in the sport as a team ambassador, as well as being an owner of Canadian Tire Motorsport Park.

John Dagys contributed to this report