Expanded SRO GT Academy to Provide 24H Spa Opportunity

SRO Motorsports Group has announced an expansion of its GT Academy initiative, offering a fully funded CrowdStrike 24 Hours of Spa seat for four Silver-rated drivers across the globe.

The SRO GT Academy recently wrapped up its first season, having been launched within the FFSA French GT Championship and set to be expanded significantly for its second year with a number of new initiatives.

The latest of which, announced Tuesday, will see four drivers (one each from the British GT Championship and the continental GT World Challenge powered by AWS series in America, Asia and Australia) earn a fully-funded seat at the 2027 CrowdStrike 24 Hours of Spa.

Candidates must be aged under 30 on Dec. 31, 2026 and hold and FIA Silver driver rating for that season, with the four selected driver sharing a Silver Cup entry by an as yet unnamed outfit, described by SRO as “an accomplished professional team.”

Drivers taking part will be judged using SRO GT Academy’s assessment-based criteria, which is aimed at eliminating external factors such as co-driver performance, reliability and luck in order to evaluate true ability.

This process places a focus on attributes such as qualifying pace, average stint times, and a driver’s conduct off the circuit, with unforced errors and unsporting behavior penalized.

“I am very pleased to announce the expansion of the SRO GT Academy to include a prize seat at the 2027 CrowdStrike 24 Hours of Spa,” said SRO Motorsports Group founder and CEO Stephane Ratel.

“Our initial efforts have focussed on European series, so it is fantastic to extend this opportunity to the many Silver drivers competing in GT World Challenge America, Asia and Australia, while also adding British GT to the program.

“The prospect of a crew composed of the best young talents from around the globe is extremely exciting and I look forward to watching it take shape over the course of 2026.”

In addition to the 24H Spa initiative, the expansion of the SRO GT Academy will also include a previously announced program in GT2 European Series powered by Pirelli, where the prize on offer is a seat with a Mercedes-AMG Customer Racing Team for the following season’s GTWC Europe Endurance Cup.