Australian GT Rebranded Under GT World Challenge for 2021

A fourth continent will be added to the global GT World Challenge powered by AWS platform in 2021 when Australia joins the international manufacturers’ championship.

It follows the announcement earlier on Thursday that SRO Motorsports Group will work alongside Australian Racing Group to jointly manage the Motorsport Australia GT Championship and Motorsport Australia Endurance Championship, which will form part of GTWC Australia.

This aligns the series with SRO’s established continental categories in Europe, America and Asia, ensuring an expanded global audience and providing a clear pathway for international teams to compete in Australia and vice versa.

The series will adopt SRO’s technical and sporting regulations, while also making use of its balance of performance system.

Brands competing in Australia will be able to score points towards the global GTWC manufacturers’ championship.

ARG’s General Manager of Operations, Ken Collier, has been appointed series manager for both the GT and Endurance championships.

Collier previously served the same role for the championship from 2012-2019 under its previous ownership. He also has a long-standing connection to SRO and was the Australian representative on the FIA GT Commission.

“The alignment of our local category with the global experience of SRO will definitely see some changes to the way GT racing has been conducted in the past, however I cannot see any down side for the Australian GT teams,” said Collier.

SRO founder and CEO Stephane Ratel added: “After being given the opportunity by Motorsport Australia to jointly manage the championship alongside ARG, it was a natural decision to align it with our series in Europe, Asia and America.

“By doing so I believe that we can take GT World Challenge Australia Powered by AWS to a global audience and offer a pathway for teams and drivers to compete internationally.

“The close ties between these customer racing series will also provide a great opportunity for manufacturers.”

The series will join ARG’s suite of racing categories and events, all of which will feature as part of the Seven Network’s live and free television coverage in Australia.

The calendar for the newly branded category will be revealed soon, with five sprint events expected to make up the 2021 schedule, while a one-off race lasting three or four hours will award the 2021 Endurance champion.

The GT Trophy Series for older specification GT3 cars and GT4 Series for SRO-spec GT4 machinery will continue as a part of GTWC Australia rounds, while the MA Manufacturers title and the Tourist Trophy for GT competitors will also be reintroduced.