FIA GT1 WC: 6 Brands, 12 teams, 24 cars

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The 2010 FIA GT1 World Championship will kick off with 6 brands, 12 teams and 24 cars. On Friday January 15th at midnight the FIA had received the FIA has received entry forms and proof of payment for 12 teams, representing six brands, with 24 cars.

For Stephane Ratel a part of his dream has now been fulfilled, although there is still a lot of work to do to get the World Championship underway. “With two car teams only and two teams per brand, this will be the most professionally presented grid outside of Formula One, the only one to display such clear visibility for the Media and the fans. It is a long held dream becoming reality and even if a lot remains to be developed in terms of promotion, media and television, there is no doubt that we are at the beginning of something big.”

“We are convinced of the unlimited potential of a series that brings together all the ingredients for success: an official World Championship title, a fair balance between the teams’ budget without direct manufacturer involvement, a truly global calendar visiting four and possibly five continents, a collection of great circuits, a format appealing to spectators and TV audiences, and most importantly the best, looking, best sounding and most prestigious cars around.”

While the six manufacturers and twelve teams that have now applied for an entry will be given all the focus by SRO Ratel is already looking to the future. “We have no doubts that the many brands that are looking at the series will soon decide to join in and their only way to do so will be to come through the 12 original teams who started the series. It is our objective that in 2012, all of the teams will benefit from manufacturer support; it is our aim to bring together 10 to 12 brands represented by one team of two cars each.”

The brands and teams that have confirmed their intention to race in the new championship are:

Aston Martin: Hexis AMR (2009 FIA GT3 European Teams Champion) from France and Young Drivers AMR from Germany.
Corvette: Mad Croc Racing (a collaboration between SRT and DKR) and Phoenix Racing Carsport (a collaboration between Phoenix Racing and Carsport Holland).
Ford: Matech Competition and Marc VDS Racing. Both teams already entered the Ford GT in the 2009 FIA GT Championship
Lamborghini: Münnich Motorsport (who already raced Lamborghini’s as All-Inkl.com) and Reiter Engineering.
Maserati: Vitaphone Racing Team (Five time FIA GT champion) and Triple H Team Hegersport (a new team led by former BMW, Audi, Honda and Peugeot factory driver Altfrid Heger).
Nissan: Swiss Racing Team, run by Othmar Welti, and new British team Sumo Power GT.

The applications will now be examined by the FIA, before an entry list is released by the end of the month.

With the FIA GT1 World Championship now having its planned 24 cars Ratel will now “concentrate on making the FIA GT2 European Championship a similar success”.