The Avon Tyres British GT championship showcases the most prestigious and stylish sportscar grid of any national motorsport championship. The 2011 season will visit six UK venues and there will be one international event, held at Spa-Francorchamps.

For the fans, the British GT Championship offers a spectacular motorsport experience. With glamorous supercars racing bumper-to-bumper, ground-shaking noise, breathtaking speeds and all the drama of pit stops and driver changeovers, the race experience is one not to be missed.

The classes:

GT3 Closely reflecting their road-going equivalents to keep maintenance costs to a minimum, GT3 specification racecars allow limited alterations to suspension, engine and bodywork. Including such cars as Ferrari 458 and Ferrari 430 Scuderia, Aston Martin DBRS9, Porsche Cup S GT3, Audi R8, Corvette, Mercedes SLS... From 2011 GT3 B class has been introduced to allow for slightly older spec GT3 machinery to compete. Including such cars as Ferrari 430, Aston Martin DBRS9….…

GT4 The GT4 category amalgamates GT4-homologated cars and Supersport-type machines. The former category provides the exciting cars which form the mainstay of the GT4 European Cup - like the Lotus Evora GT4, Nissan 370Z, BMW M3, Aston Martin N24, Ginetta G50... - while the latter division encompasses such exotica as the KTM XBOW and Lotus 2-Eleven.

GTC This class is generally made of one make championship cars, such as the Porsche Cup and the Ferrari Challenge, regulated by power to weight ratio. Changes of bodywork material and sizes may be granted, for example rear wings may be fitted, subject to the eligibility scrutineer's approval.

INVITATION This class will be for cars selected by the organisers that do not comply with the regulations GT3, GT4 or GTC.

 

Championship points
The Avon Tyres British GT Championship features four separate scoring classes for 2011 - GT3 (the class that will decide the overall British GT Championship title), GT3 B, GT4 and GTC. Points are awarded as follows in each class:

1st 25, 2nd 18, 3rd 15, 4th 12, 5th 10, 6th 8, 7th 6, 8th 4, 9th 2, 10th 1

 

Time Penalty
Time Penalty will be added to the first three cars in each class after each race. It will be applied during the mandatory Pit stop in the following race.

1st 15 seconds (+5 seconds for races longer than 1 hr)
2nd 10 seconds (+5 seconds for races longer than 1 hr)
3rd 5 seconds (+5 seconds for races longer than 1 hr)

 

Licence requirement & driver grades
All drivers must hold a racing licence of at least International C grade.

Drivers are categorized into groups A, B, C or D according to their experience and successes. Grade A drivers may partner only with drivers from categories D or C (A+C will carry 40Kg). Grade B drivers may partner only with drivers from categories D or C (B+C will carry 25Kg). All other pairing combinations are permitted.

 

Race distances
Twin-race meetings will feature two separate one-hour races, with three to four endurance events each hosting a single two-hour race and a one off 3 hour endurance race with the option of three drivers per car.

 

Pit stops
All races feature a mandatory 'driver change' pit stop. In the 1 hour races it must be carried out between 23 and 37 minutes and will be of a minimum specified duration. In the 2 hour races, where stops would usually include refuelling, the pit stop will be of a longer minimum duration; teams are free to call when to stop, but no one driver may spend longer than 50 minutes on track. The 3 hour race permits drivers to race maximum 100 minutes for two driver crews and minimum 40 minutes for three driver crews, with three mandatory pit stops during the 3 hour race.

 

Tyres
All cars must use Avon tyres; each car is restricted to a maximum of eight slick tyres per meeting. There is no restriction on the number of wet-weather tyres.

 

Fuel
All cars must run on a control Sunoco Racing Fuel supplied through Anglo American Oil Company.

The full regulations for the 2011 Avon Tyres British GT Championship may be downloaded here.