FIA GT1 Headed To North America?

Matthew Little

Points Scorer
SPA24: Post-Race Notebook......GT1 headed to America?

According to SpeedTV.com's John Dagys, there is a strong possibility that next year could see the FIA GT1 World Championship make either one or two stops in North America in 2011. During a press conference/series update, SRO chairman Stephane Ratel confirmed that he has spoken to several promoters in both Canada and the United States. Quoting the article, Ratel said that,
I’ve made four visits to the U.S. to discuss with most of the big players in America. I’m confident because there is interest. I think we have a very reasonable chance, especially as it’s not very expensive [to transport equipment] to America. Asia is complicated because you need to have two 747 cargos and it’s expensive. But for America, you put the cargo in containers and cross the Atlantic [by boat]. It’s not so much of an inconvenience, especially on the East Coast.

However, it appears he took a shot at the American LeMans Series(and by extension, the ACO) when he said that the odds of a co-headliner event with the ALMS was out of the question, stating that,
We don’t have a chance in the ALMS world. They’re also sportscars, so we have to go completely different angle on the races in America.


FWIW, I think it would be interesting to see the big-bore GT sportscars once again on the track, especially if they can get co-headlining status with either the IndyCar Series and/or Grand-Am. 8-)

Of course, the question that then comes up is where would they race at? Here are some potential venues...............
----Trois Rivieres***
----Mt. Tremblant
----Exhibition Place(Toronto)*
----Barber Motorsports Park**
----Road America
----Daytona Road Course**
----Infineon*
----St. Petersburg, Fla.*
*--IndyCar Series
**--Grand-Am Rolex Series
***--Grand-AM Continental Tire Series
 
I too would welcome FIA GT to the States, but I doubt it will happen. The ALMS is associated with the ACO and not with the FIA series. We also have Grand Am racing that is affiliated with Nascar. Both series have had their troubles in the current economic environment, so I cannot see this happening anytime soon.
 
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