GT Rebellion Series Launched

Photo: SRO

SRO Motorsports Group has launched the GT Rebellion Series, a new GT3-based endurance championship aimed for Bronze-rated drivers.

Announced during Friday’s annual press conference at Spa-Francorchamps, the four-round season will be run at GT2 Sports Club Europe race meetings in 2021 and feature current and previous-generation GT3 machinery along with the possibility of a GT4 class.

SRO founder and CEO Stephane Ratel explained the target of GT Rebellion is to bring back all-amateur lineups to GT3 endurance racing following the rise of all-pro or pro-am driving squads in GT World Challenge Europe in recent years.

“In the 24 Hours of Spa we have three cars in the Am class and once upon a time, we had 15,” Ratel said. “So where have they all gone? We can’t lose them, so we needed to create something for them.

“We made a survey and talked to our teams that run typically amateur drivers and I asked what their guys would like.

“The answers that came back was that they like endurance and many of them remember the beginning of the Blancpain GT Series when there were a lot more amateurs.”

The genesis of GT Rebellion centers on the Silverstone 500, which is the headline round of the Intelligent Money British GT Championship.

The same three-hour format will be featured throughout the GT Rebellion season, with separate categories for current-gen GT3 (Gen 4 evo) cars and previous-gen GT3 machinery (Gen 3).

An overall classification will also be provided, with Am drivers distributed between Bronze and Bronze+ rated.

“There is a format of ours that works very well, which is the Silverstone 500,” Ratel said. “It’s a three-hour race with two drivers, three pit stops, they all have two stints of 45 minutes.

“We have created, I believe, a very good calendar.

“We start at Monza, then we go to Hockenheim and the Silverstone 500. The race is already there and we can mix with it.

“Then we finish at Paul Ricard and you will see that there is room between June and October.

“I hope that many of these cars will join the Total 24 Hours of Spa because we really want to have a [healthy] Am class here again.”

GT Rebellion’s name comes from SRO’s partnership with Rebellion Timepieces, which is the official timekeeper of GT World Challenge powered by AWS.

2021 GT Rebellion Schedule:
Apr. 15-17 — Monza (w/ GTWC Europe)
May. 14-15 — Hockenheim
Jun. 25-27 — Silverstone 500 (w/ British GT)
Oct. 1-3 — Paul Ricard (w/ FFSA French GT)

John Dagys

John Dagys is the founder and Editor-in-Chief of Sportscar365. Dagys spent eight years as a motorsports correspondent for FOXSports.com and SPEED Channel and has contributed to numerous other motorsports publications worldwide. Contact John