COTA Date Confirmed; Further Details on GTS, GT4 Americas

WC Vision has confirmed the date for the season-opening GT Pirelli World Challenge round, along with other changes to the preliminary 2019 schedules for GTS and the new GT4 Americas East and West championships that were revealed last month.

Confirmed during last weekend’s stakeholder’s meeting at Utah Motorsports Campus, the previously to-be-announced date for Circuit of The Americas has been set for March 1-3, and will now also open the GT4 Americas West series as well.

Previously, an event at Thermal Club in Palm Springs Calif. was due to open the five-round championship. The track is still in consideration for a slot on the finalized calendar.

Both the GTS and GT4 East seasons, meanwhile, will kick off one week later at St. Petersburg, as previously announced.

No other changes to the calendars have been communicated, although confirmation is awaiting on a to-be-confirmed GT4 West round in California in May.

Further information on the planned ‘Grand Finale’ event, which will close out the GT, GTS and GT4 West seasons, was also not released. 

Sportscar365 understands that WC Vision is working to release a completed 2019 calendar for all four championships during its season-ending weekend at Watkins Glen early next month.

Optimized Schedules for Joint GTS, GT4 Americas Weekends

Series officials have pledged to have optimized weekend schedules for joint GTS and GT4 Americas rounds next year that will enable teams to take part in both events with the same cars.

It comes after feedback received from several teams that voiced concerns on the logistics involved to compete in both the 50-minute GTS races and 60-minute, two-driver GT4 rounds.

According to WC Vision, there will be no back-to-back sessions for the two GT4-based classes on event weekends, with the goal of offering 6.5 hours of track time on standalone weekends for teams running both series.

In addition, entry fees for 2019 will reman frozen at current rates, with the promise that GT4 Americas fees would be cheaper than GTS. No figures were announced.

It was also confirmed that CBS Sports Network will continue as PWC’s broadcast partner for GT, GTS and Touring Car, with all classes, including GT4 Americas East/West, set to be streamed live on the series’ Web site next year.

GT4 Americas currently does not have a television package.