GT3 Revival Series Set for Public Debut at Peter Auto Test Days

The GT3 Revival Series will make its official track debut this week when it joins the annual Peter Auto Test Days at Circuit Paul Ricard.

A total of 20 cars from the new series will participate in the two-day event, which starts tomorrow, with seven brands and some very significant machinery featured on the entry list.

The program allows for almost five hours of running spread across seven sessions, each lasting 40 minutes.

While the lineup for the test hints at what to expect this season, it does not represent the definitive GT3 Revival Series grid.

Further additions are set to join for the inaugural race at Circuit Paul Ricard (April 11-12), though the cars on-track this week should be more than enough to whet the appetite.

They include the Ford GT, now run by Debard Automobiles by Racetivity, which helped Matech GT to clinch the FIA GT3 European Championship in 2008.

Motopark Academy’s Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG GT3 was driven in period by grand prix winner Heinz-Harald Frentzen and modern GT3 ace Luca Stolz, while Spark Motorsport’s Audi R8 LMS ultra was entrusted to the likes of Nicki Thiim, Rahel Frey and Markus Winkelhock.

Among the drivers entered for the test, Jean-Luc Beaubelique and Jim Pla reprise their successful partnership aboard a Ferrari 458 Italia GT3, the same car with which Beaubelique undertook three editions of the CrowdStrike 24 Hours of Spa.

There are also a number of family pairings, including Pierre and Jonathan Hirschi in a BMW Z4 GT3 and the Ferrari 458 of Mauro and Benjamini Ricci.

But the most eye-catching name on the entry list is that of 2024 WRC champion and 22-time rally winner Thierry Neuville. The Belgian star will take the wheel of a BMW Z4, run by VDS Racing, which secured a Blancpain Endurance Series victory with the same chassis at Circuit Paul Ricard in 2013.

The GT3 Revival Series will be on-track this week as part of the wider Peter Auto Test Days, which cater for a variety of historic machinery.

Launched to coincide with the 20th anniversary of the GT3 category, it is organized by Peter Auto and SRO Motorsports Group, which will use era-specific archives to provide the Balance of Performance.

The inaugural season opens at Paul Ricard with a pair of races, followed by further rounds at Spa Classic (May 22–24), Le Mans Classic (July 3–5), the Nürburgring (Aug. 29–30), and Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya (Oct. 3–4).