Ratel ‘Personally Likes the Idea’ of GT3 Premium in WEC

SRO Motorsports Group founder and CEO Stephane Ratel says that he ‘personally likes’ the idea of the FIA World Endurance Championship introducing removable GT3 Premium kits from 2024.

Ratel, whose organization was instrumental in creating the GT3 formula and now uses it for many of its racing series, has expressed support for the direction that the FIA and ACO are taking with their adoption of GT3 after GTE’s demise at the end of next year.

The GT3 Premium concept was announced at the 24 Hours of Le Mans last month as a way for the WEC to create a distinction between itself and other GT3 competitions.

A price guide of €50,000-100,000 ($53,000-106,000 USD) has been proposed for each new kit, but technical parameters have not been revealed publicly or to manufacturers.

Speaking about the overall premise of GT3 Premium, Ratel expressed that he supports the FIA and ACO’s plans to require a special body kit for the formula in 2024.

“For the passion of the sport and this type of race car, it will give some different looks,” he told Sportscar365.

“I don’t know how far it will go, but the history of Le Mans is made of special cars if you go back to this heritage and DNA.

“The idea of adding a special aero kit, in the spirit of the Porsche 935 and others, I personally like the idea. And the manufacturers will do it because they want to be at Le Mans.

“If Le Mans wants it, they will do it. The teams will do it because you’re going to have less GT cars on the grid than today, therefore the GT teams are at Le Mans already.

“They have the money to run GTE. We all know that GT3 is less expensive, so if they can run in GTE they can afford to buy a kit.

“So basically the teams will have the funding to buy the kit, and the owners will be happy because they will have special cars.

“If you look at the value of all GT race cars, it will probably appreciate. I think it works.”

Ratel feels that the cost of the GT3 Premium kits won’t be “completely crazy” and that teams wanting to race in the WEC and Le Mans will be willing to bear the price.

Furthermore, he doesn’t believe that WEC premium kits will diminish other series that run the ‘standard’ GT3 in their headline classes, such as SRO’s Intercontinental GT Challenge powered by Pirelli and Fanatec GT World Challenge Europe powered by AWS.

“Nobody is going to say that the 24 Hours of Spa is not a premium race,” Ratel said.

“As long as we have 65 cars at the start, it’s going to be the biggest GT race in the world by the number of cars and manufacturers. You don’t have to see ‘premium’ [there].

“You look at the fantastic [Porsche] 934 and they had a special Le Mans car. Did it make the other one not premium? Of course not.

“Of course, the cars with the Le Mans kit that have done Le Mans will have a bit more value, and also be a bit more expensive.

“And now I’m in an official partnership with Le Mans so I’m not going to say they’re wrong, but on top of that I am not against the idea.

“I would be more concerned if it was in Asia, where the idea is to collaborate. That would have been complicated, but as long as it’s Le Mans and WEC, it’s perfect.”

Ratel Feels WEC Has “Ticked the Right Boxes”

In addition to supporting the GT3 Premium concept, Ratel believes that the WEC and Le Mans organizers have “ticked the right boxes” regarding their recent and upcoming sporting evolutions.

From 2024 there will be a requirement for all GT lineups in WEC to be Pro-Am, while the factory team concept will be ushered into the Hypercar class with LMH and LMDh cars.

The Pro-Am mandate leaves series like GTWC Europe and the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship GTD Pro class as the main arenas for Pro-level GT racing, rather than sharing space with the factory-focused GTE-Pro which ends after this season.

“What they are doing now with Hypercar, and Ferrari coming back in the lead class, I think is very good,” Ratel said.

“I think returning GT racing to Pro-Am, which is what it was throughout the 60s, 70s and 80s… I think that is very good too.

“And to push manufacturers, to say if you want to use the Le Mans name in your marketing with your Pro team and drivers, you have to come to the top class.

“Le Mans has suffered almost 20 years of not really having a fight at the top, while you had a very good competition in GT. I think they have ticked the right boxes.”