Group GT3 , known technically as Cup Grand Touring Cars and commonly referred to as simply GT3 , is a set of regulations maintained by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA) for grand tourer racing cars designed for use in various auto racing series throughout the world. The GT3 category was initially created in 2005 by the SRO Motorsports Group as a third rung in the ladder of grand touring motorsport, below the Group GT1 and Group GT2 categories which were utilized in the SRO's FIA GT Championship , and launched its own series in 2006 called the FIA GT3 European Championship . Since then, Group GT3 has expanded to become the de facto category for many national and international grand touring series, although some series modify the ruleset from the FIA standard. By 2013, nearly 20 automobile manufacturers have built or been represented with GT3 machines.
28-573: Group GT3 allows for a wide variety of car types to be homologated with almost no limit on engine sizes and configurations or chassis construction or layout. GT3 cars must be based on mass production road car models that are being built and sold at the time of homologation. Performance of all the Group GT3 cars are regulated, either by the GT Bureau of the FIA or by a series' specific ruling body, through
56-695: A 24 Hours Nürburgring victory in 2012. Group GT3 also expanded to the United States with the Rolex Sports Car Series allowing several GT3 cars with specification wings, as well as the Japanese Super GT and Super Taikyu Series , while Nissan became the first Japanese manufacturer to sell a GT3 car. GT3 category cars also replaced Group GT1 cars in the FIA GT1 World Championship before rebranding as
84-563: A car based on regulations, and then develop that car to increase its performance, thus increasing the cost for the manufacturers and the customers wanting to race the cars. GT3 was envisioned as a category that would simplify the process by combining several existing cars from one-make series , such as the Porsche Supercup or Ferrari Challenge , as well as other race cars available from manufacturers that did not fit in GT1 or GT2, such as
112-702: A category specifically for the FIA's new Group GT3 machines. The SRO Group expanded the category in 2007 with the launch of two new regional championships, the Brazilian GT Championship and the German ADAC GT Masters , exclusively running Group GT3 cars. The British GT Championship abandoned Group GT2 cars, promoting GT3 to their premiere category, while the Belcar series reorganized their class structure to introduce GT3 as their lead class. The French FFSA GT Championship also added
140-707: A distinct class in each of the following series: Bold indicates an active series that currently uses Group GT3 cars. Additionally, the following series allow certain Group GT3 cars to participate alongside other competitors: Homologation (motorsport) Too Many Requests If you report this error to the Wikimedia System Administrators, please include the details below. Request from 172.68.168.226 via cp1108 cp1108, Varnish XID 221326922 Upstream caches: cp1108 int Error: 429, Too Many Requests at Thu, 28 Nov 2024 08:00:12 GMT Rolex Sports Car Series The Rolex Sports Car Series
168-548: A minimum production number required for GT3 race cars would be enforced. Ten units must be made within twelve months as from the homologation date, twenty units must be made within twenty-four months and so on. Following dwindling manufacturer support for their Class One regulations , the Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters (DTM) series switched to the GT3 formula in 2021, abandoning its touring car origins. In 2022,
196-615: A new GT3 category. The Australian GT Championship brought on board the GT3 category in 2008 while the VLN Series and 24 Hours Nürburgring added GT3 categories in 2009. By 2011 Group GT3 was expanding into endurance racing with the formation of the Blancpain Endurance Series as well as winning overall at the Bathurst 12 Hour , Dubai 24 Hour , Malaysia Merdeka Endurance Race , and Spa 24 Hours , followed by
224-475: A period of seven years unless a request for extension is made by the manufacturer. Currently, all homologations prior to GT3-025 have expired and not been renewed, although these expired cars are allowed to compete in national series under local approval (such as SCCA Trans-Am Series XGT classes) or in historic events such as Le Mans Classic . Group GT3 cars can be built either directly by the automotive manufacturer or built by racing teams and tuning companies at
252-600: A unified road racing championship to be known as United SportsCar Racing , later retitled as the TUDOR United Sports Car Championship. The final Rolex Sports Car Series race was held on September 28, 2013 at Lime Rock Park. Following the failure of the United States Road Racing Championship in 1999, the new Grand American Road Racing Association announced their intentions to adopt a format similar to
280-501: Is the same distance, as it would be if the two classes were running together. This did however make GT races slightly longer than combined events, since GT cars would likely finish several laps behind the winning prototype and thus not cover the full distance. When the GT and DP races were combined, the two classes would use a motorcycle racing-style "wave start," a concept from Roger Edmonson, who had been in motorcycle racing before organising
308-578: The Aston Martin DBRS9 or Dodge Viper Competition Coupe , and allow them to all compete on a level playing field through strict control of their performance by the FIA. This would allow drivers a bridge between smaller national series and the professional international FIA GT Championship. Further, the category was conceived to use sprint formats for races, but manufacturers could develop and sell an upgrade kit for their cars to allow GT3 cars to be used in endurance races . A similar category, under
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#1732780812744336-606: The FIA GT Series in 2013. After NASCAR merged their Grand-Am Rolex Sports Car Series with IMSA's American Le Mans Series, the new United SportsCar Championship allowed more types of GT3 cars to join the GTD category, and in 2016 limited the category to only GT3 spec machines. On 9 March 2018, it was announced that the FIA World Motor Sport Council approved the introduction of a new process, in which
364-564: The FIA World Motor Sport Council meeting verdict in Geneva , Switzerland on June 24, 2010, Continental took over the official tire partner role until the series merged into WeatherTech SportsCar Championship in 2014. Speed Channel was the near-exclusive broadcaster of the Rolex Sports Car Series and included coverage of the 6 Hours of Watkins Glen and the 24 Hours of Daytona. On August 17, 2013, Fox Sports 1 became
392-662: The Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG or low power and low weight such as the Porsche 911 GT3 . GT3 cars also have traction control , ABS , and built-in air jacks for quick pit stops . The concept behind Group GT3 was introduced by Stéphane Ratel, head of the SRO Group and promoter of the FIA GT Championship in 2005. The Group GT1 and Group GT2 cars in the FIA GT Championship required manufacturers to build
420-587: The Six Hours of Watkins Glen , giving the league a second endurance race alongside the Rolex 24 at Daytona to compete with the ALMS' 12 Hours of Sebring and Petit Le Mans . GTO and GTU would be renamed GTS and GT for 2001 to better match the classes used by the similar American Le Mans Series . 2003 would see the series go through a radical change, as Daytona Prototypes debuted for the first time to replace both of
448-466: The balance of performance formulae that adjusts limits on horsepower, weight, engine management, and aerodynamics to prevent a single manufacturer from becoming dominant in the class. The cars in GT3 are designed to have a weight between 1200 kg and 1300 kg (2645 lbs and 2866 lbs) with horsepower between 500 hp and 600 hp. All cars have a very similar power to weight ratio but achieved either by high power and high weight such as
476-425: The 24 Hours of Daytona. The tire manufacturers war in Rolex Sports Car Series began in the 2000 season with Michelin , Dunlop , Goodyear , Avon , Pirelli , Hoosier and Yokohama were tire suppliers until 2001 season. Starting in 2002 season, the tire manufacturers war were reduced to just two suppliers as Dunlop and Goodyear were only Grand-Am Rolex Sports Car Series tire manufacturers until 2004 season. As
504-613: The Daytona Prototypes. This meant that the GT class was now the top tier, being joined by the Super Grand Sport (SGS) class moved up from the Grand Am Cup series. This was further streamlined in 2005 with all Grand Touring-style cars being in a single GT class. This formula led to the Rolex Sports Car Series having a large number of competitors at most events, mostly due to the ease of use and low cost of
532-622: The FIA confirmed that the GTE cars in the FIA World Endurance Championship would be replaced by GT3 cars, racing in the LMGT3 class. This means GT3 cars will be able to participate in the 24 Hours of Le Mans from 2024 onward. As of April 2024, 58 vehicles have gone through the homologation process with the FIA, although some of these homologations failed to be completed or were later revoked. Homologations expire after
560-683: The Grand American series with the France family. In this case, the DP cars would take the green flag first, followed, usually 20–30 seconds later (depending on track length) by the GT cars. By starting the cars separately, the organisers hoped for safer starts by having the two classes of cars race separately. Due to the series' affiliation with NASCAR , many Sprint Cup Series drivers occasionally participated in Rolex Series races, particularly
588-511: The Sports Racing Prototype classes. Although SRPs would be allowed to continue until the end of 2003, few were seen while the Daytona Prototypes took over the series. The American GT class was also dissolved with the cars being placed into the similar GTS class. In 2004, the faster GTS class was abandoned in order to provide a larger gap between the Daytona Prototypes and GT cars. The GTS cars were as fast (if not faster) than
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#1732780812744616-631: The behest of the manufacturer. Other vehicles have been allowed to run alongside Group GT3 cars in various series under homologations from national ruling bodies, including the Mosler MT900R GT3 , Ginetta G55 GT3 , Chevron GR8 GT3 , Radical RXC GT3 , Scuderia Cameron Glickenhaus SCG 003C , Emil Frey Jaguar XKR G3 , Acura TLX-GT , Renault Sport R.S. 01 GT3 , Aston Martin Vulcan AMR Pro and Chevrolet Corvette C8.R GTD . Since 2006, Group GT3 cars have been either exclusive to or in
644-513: The cars in either class while the Grand American Road Racing Association was able to keep the competition equalized. With such high car counts, Grand-Am has had to split GT and DP races at shorter tracks where it is not feasible to put 50 cars on the track at one instance. In each case, the GT cars race on Saturday, and the DP cars race on Sunday. This split format allows drivers to run both races. Each race
672-763: The one used in the USRRC, centering on the 24 Hours of Daytona . This series was seen as an alternative to the former IMSA GT Championship , which had since been replaced by the American Le Mans Series in 1999. The new series would run two classes of Sports Racing Prototypes identical to the rules used in the new FIA Sportscar Championship in Europe, while Grand Touring -style cars would consist of three classes: GTO for larger production-based race cars, GTU for smaller production-based race cars, and AGT for American tube frame cars. The league would also acquire
700-637: The same name, had been in use in the British GT Championship which the SRO Group also organized. The regulations and homologations for Group GT3 were prepared by the FIA and ready by the start of the 2006 season, with eight manufacturers represented as the first Balance of Performance test prior to the debut of the FIA GT3 European Championship . The International GT Open , British GT Championship , Spanish GT Championship , and Italian GT Championship all created
728-579: The series debuted their custom prototype chassis, known as Daytona Prototypes , named after their premiere event, the Rolex 24 at Daytona . The series staged the North American Endurance Championship , featuring three of its premier races at Daytona , Watkins Glen , and Indianapolis . On September 5, 2012, Grand-Am announced that it would be merging the Rolex Sports Car Series with the American Le Mans Series to form
756-461: The tire manufacturers war were ended after 2004 season, in 2005 Hoosier Racing Tire took over as official single tire partner of Grand-Am Rolex Sports Car Series that lasted through 2007 season. Started in 2008, Pirelli took over the tire partner role of Grand-Am Rolex Sports Car Series that lasted through 2010 season. As Pirelli confirmed of Grand-Am Rolex Sports Car Series departure to Formula One , GP2 Asia Series and GP2 Series in 2011 after
784-499: Was the premier series run by the Grand American Road Racing Association . It was a North American-based sports car series founded in 2000 under the name Grand American Road Racing Championship to replace the failed United States Road Racing Championship . Rolex took over as series sponsor in 2002. It ran a mixture of classes of sports prototypes and Grand Touring -style cars. In 2003,
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