SRO Sets Testing Dates, Second Spa Test Day for Indy Clash

Photo: Dirk Bogaerts/SRO

SRO Motorsports Group has communicated a number of test days for GT World Challenge Europe powered by AWS, including an alternative pre-event test at Spa for teams competing in the Indianapolis 8 Hour.

The restarted testing program will get underway at Spa-Francorchamps with two days named Back to Track on July 10-11. The test will give GTWC Europe teams the first time to group test since mid-March.

Additional pre-event test days will also be scheduled on the days before the races at Imola and Nürburgring, on Friday, July 24 and Thursday, Sept. 3. 

Ninety minutes of testing will be available prior to the new season-opener at Imola in late July, while four 50-minute sessions are scheduled at Nürburgring ahead of the six-hour enduro.

Sprint Cup teams will get test sessions on the days before the rounds at Misano, Magny-Cours and Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya, including one night session at Magny-Cours on Thursday, Sept. 10.

Most notably, a backup test day for the Total 24 Hours of Spa will be held on the Tuesday of race week, accommodating a number of teams that will also be running at the Indianapolis 8 Hour three weeks earlier.

The traditional two-day Spa test was previously moved to Sept. 29-30, making it impossible for Intercontinental GT Challenge powered by Pirelli teams to attend both the test and the Indy 8H on Oct. 4.  

The late-September date will still go ahead but is no longer mandatory for teams with logistical difficulties, which will be able to complete their testing mileage on Tuesday, Oct. 20.

Laurent Mercier contributed to this report

Jake Kilshaw

Jake Kilshaw is a UK-based journalist. He is a graduate of Politics and International Relations.