Group GT1 , also known simply as GT1 , was a set of regulations maintained formerly by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA), for Grand Tourer racing. The category was first created in 1993, as the top class of the BPR Global GT Series , and was included in the 24 Hours of Le Mans. It fell under FIA regulation from 1997, after the BPR series came under the control of the FIA, becoming known as the FIA GT Championship. The category was dissolved at the end of 2011. The category may be split into four distinctive eras, from its debut in 1993–1996, 1997–1998, 2000–2009, 2010–2011.
25-646: The class which was to become known as "GT1" was debuted by the ACO (Automobile Club de l'Ouest) at the 1993 24 Hours of Le Mans , under the name Group GT . The class was first defined in the FIA Appendix J regulations, as Group GT , in 1993. In 1994, following the collapse of the FIA World Sportscar Championship in 1992, BPR Global GT series was founded by Jürgen Barth, Patrick Peter, and Stephane Ratel (with their last names forming
50-773: A Bentley. The Le Mans circuit was occupied by the Royal Air Force in 1940 and then by the Germans at the end of that year. Le Mans was liberated in August, 1944, but it was almost five years before the 24 Hours took place again. Following the war, the grounds of the ACO and the circuit were in ruins, bombed by the Allies and further destroyed by the Germans. The ACO set about the task of reconstruction, aided by Government Minister and Sarthe députée Christian Pineau who provided
75-491: A factory team to several rounds, with its 911 GT1 , which was thought by most in the series paddock as being built against of the spirit of the rules, due to the fact that it was a Porsche 962 with just the front of the chassis being shared with a Type 993 911, and it having a street variant simply for the sake of meeting its homologation requirement. The homologation special method was not new however, with Porsche having already earlier collaborated with Dauer Sportwagen to race
100-776: A new class, N-GT would be the lower class in the championship. The equivalent of this in ACO sanctioned Championships would be the GTS class, and the GT class. In 2005, both classes would become renamed as "GT1" and " GT2 " respectively. The Maserati MC12 would be the dominant car of this era, with it earning five consecutive teams titles from 2006 to 2009 for the Vitaphone Racing Team in the FIA GT Championship. Automobile Club de l%27Ouest The Automobile Club de l'Ouest (English: Automobile Club of
125-514: The CLK GTR . Similar to the 911 GT1, the CLK GTR was yet another homologation special prototype, with the car only being a racing-version of a production Grand Tourer in name. The car had no street legal version even built by the time the category collapsed in 1999, and shared only the instrumentation, front grille and the four headlamps with the normal CLK (C208) . That same season, realising that
150-744: The Dauer 962 Le Mans in 1994 (at the time of homologation, only one road car existed) to effectively score the last Le Mans victory for the Porsche 962 series, and Toyota heavily modifying the Toyota MR2 into the SARD MC8-R for the following year's race, also joined by a more pure road derived Toyota Supra and national rivals Nissan Skyline GT-R (both of which had also competed in JGTC with identical specifications) and Honda NSX that year. Following
175-523: The F1 GTR would not be competitive against the homologation specials, McLaren also updated the bodywork of the car, with the alterations so significant that they were forced to build a road car with the updated bodywork, effectively turning the car into a homologation special. The resulting car was known as the F1 GT, with three being built. In 1998, realising that with the introduction of the updated CLK LM, and
200-704: The Stéphane Ratel Organisation (SRO). The races featured grand touring cars and awarded a drivers and teams championship. The season began on 11 April 1999 and ended 26 November 1999 after ten races in Europe, the United States, and China. Following the domination of Mercedes-Benz the previous two seasons, pre-season entries for the GT1 category were so few that the FIA and SRO chose to eliminate
225-581: The United States Road Racing Championship before the series was canceled in the summer of 1999, although American teams were invited to participate as non-scoring entries. Points were awarded to the top six finishers in each race. Entries were required to complete 75% of the race distance in order to be classified as a finisher. Drivers were required to complete 20% of the total race distance for their car to earn points. Teams scored points for each of its cars which finished
250-595: The 911 GT1-98, the F1 GTR could no longer be competitive, McLaren withdrew backing from the program, following BMW which had done so the previous year, in 1997, although two cars would still be entered by Parabolica Motorsports and Davidoff Classic. In 1999, following the total domination of the Mercedes-AMG team in the Championship in the previous season, which saw them win all races in the championship, with both
275-424: The ACO turned its attention to designing a shorter circuit on public roads to the south of the city. The organisation's chief secretary Georges Durand , together with magazine editor Charles Faroux of La Vie Automobile and tyre manufacturer Emile Coquille , came up with the idea for a 24-hour race. The first Le Mans 24 Hours was held on 26 May 1923. The very first entry was lodged with the ACO by John Duff on
SECTION 10
#1732781161668300-521: The CLK GTR and LM, no GT1 teams entered the category, apart from the Mercedes-AMG Team. As such, the FIA chose to run the 1999 FIA GT Championship with just the GT2 class. Following the omission of the original GT1 category in the 1999 season, the FIA GT Championship was restructured, such that original GT2 class would be elevated to the top class of the championship, and become known as GT while
325-595: The Drivers title with teammate Karl Wendlinger , earning six of Oreca's nine race victories. For the first time in the history of both the FIA GT Championship and its predecessor series, the BPR Global GT Endurance Championship, a 1,000 km (620 mi) endurance race was not part of the season as the 1000 km Suzuka was dropped from the schedule, instead all races were held to a 500 km (310 mi) distance. The Japanese event
350-512: The West), sometimes abbreviated to ACO , is the largest automotive group in France . It was founded in 1906 by car building and racing enthusiasts, and is most famous for being the organising entity behind the annual Le Mans 24 Hours race. The ACO also lobbies on behalf of French drivers on such issues as road building and maintenance, the availability of driving schools and road safety classes, and
375-574: The championship had grown, with the grids of the championship growing due to an influx of cars from several makes in the top GT1 class, such as the McLaren F1 GTR, and the new Porsche 911 GT2 Evolution based on the new 993 chassis, which replaced the 964 platform 911 Carrera RSRs that had once dominated the series grids. In addition, professional teams had also begun to enter the championship that had once been intended for privateers, which caused costs to increase dramatically. Porsche even sent in
400-468: The class for 1999. The former GT2 class became the sole category of cars eligible for the championships, although cars from national championships were allowed to participate on an invitational basis at some events. Chrysler Viper Team Oreca dominated the championship for the entire season, winning all but one race en route to the Teams title. Olivier Beretta won his second-consecutive championship, sharing
425-593: The first millions. In addition the ACO launched a loan. In 1946 the British Racing Drivers' Club opened a "Le Mans Fund" for the benefit of the ACO, raising a grand total of £358 and 11 shillings, to assist with the rehabilitation of the facilities at the Le Mans circuit. Rebuilding of the circuit started on February 7, 1949, and the first post-war event at Le Mans was held on 25–26 June of that year. Pineau, standing beside Charles Faroux, gave
450-471: The incorporation of technical innovations into new vehicles. It also runs a roadside assistance service for its members. The ACO's history begins with the Automobile Club de la Sarthe , the ancestor of today's ACO, which was founded in the town of Le Mans . In 1906 that group included Amédée Bollée and Paul Jamin, winner of the 1897 Paris-Dieppe race in a Léon Bollée tricar. With the help of
475-531: The larger Automobile Club de France they organised a race on local public roads, on a 65-mile triangular course connecting Le Mans with Saint-Calais and La Ferté-Bernard . The 12-lap race, titled the Grand Prix de l'ACF, was held over two days and won by Ferenc Szisz driving a Renault , This race, the first Grand Prix , would eventually become the French Grand Prix . After World War I ,
500-691: The loss of Patrick Peter from the BPR Organisation, the BPR Organisation evolved into the Stephane Ratel Organisation , with the SRO now co-organising the championship with the FIA. With this change, it saw an even larger influx of professional teams and manufacturers, with the whole grid of the GT1 class consisting of nothing but professional teams. The 1997 season saw the entry of the Mercedes-AMG Team, who would debut
525-516: The name of series organizer BPR), as a championship for privateers, with four hour long endurance races. Barth, an ex Le Mans winner, was manager of the customer competitions department at Porsche, Peter was a well-respected race promoter, while Ratel was an executive/investor in the Venturi GT1 project. The Series had four categories, namely GT1-4, with each decreasing number signifying increased freedom in its technical regulations. By 1996 however,
SECTION 20
#1732781161668550-523: The pit lane and front stretch where the accident occurred. It also led to a change of ACO rules for the type of cars permitted in the 24 Hours of Le Mans for the following years, as well as applying a fuel-consumption formula. The 1967 French Grand Prix was a Formula One race held on the Bugatti Circuit, Le Mans, on July 2, 1967. Motor Sport called it "The Grand Prix of the Car Parks." It
575-430: The starting signal. Two new spectator stands were named for racing drivers and resistance fighters Robert Benoist and Jean-Pierre Wimille . During the ACO's 24 Hours of Le Mans event in 1955, an accident occurred which killed 84 people, regarded as the worst accident in motorsport history. It led to many actions by the ACO to subsequently change buildings and the procedures used at the circuit, as well as to redesign
600-511: Was an innovation not repeated. The ACO is responsible as a ruling body for race series, specifically sportscar series. The ACO has run or backed the following races or race series: Current Former 1999 FIA GT Championship The 1999 FIA GT Championship was the third season of FIA GT Championship , an auto racing series endorsed by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA) and organized by
625-654: Was replaced by a race at the Zhuhai International Circuit , which the BPR series had visited in 1996 . Dijon-Prenois was also not retained from 1998, replaced by the Zolder and Monza , which started the season. The series initially planned to retain the A1-Ring before the event was replaced by a second American event at Watkins Glen . The two American rounds were intended to be run in conjunction with
#667332