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Category | GT4 sports cars |
---|---|
Country | France |
Inaugural season | 1997 |
Drivers' champion | Pro-Am: Fabien Michal Pro-Am: Gregory Guilvert Am: Nicolas Gomar Am: Julien Lambert |
Teams' champion | Pro-Am: CMR Am: AGS Events |
Official website | Official website |
Current season |
The FFSA GT Championship (Championnat de France FFSA GT) is a French Grand Touring-style sports car racing series that began in 1997. It is the main event of the Championnat de France des Circuits (formerly called Super Série FFSA and GT Tour).
It is controlled by the Fédération Française du Sport Automobile (FFSA) and from 2011 the series was organized by racing company Oreca. In 2017 the series was readopted by the SRO. Since the demise of the French Supertouring Championship after the 2005 season, the French GT has become France's major circuit racing championship.
Founded by Patrick Peter in 1997 as an offshoot of the international BPR Global GT Series, this national version featured a wide variety of Grand Touring-style cars in multiple classes competing at the same time on mostly French courses. In 1998 the SRO Group took over the series and the classes were reorganized to align with the inaugural FIA GT Championship, also organised by SRO. SRO alignment continues through to today even though in 2011 series organization was handed over from SRO to Oreca, a French racing team, constructor, and organiser of the Sportscar Winter Series and the former Formula Le Mans Cup.
The main class has used GTS car regulations from 1997 to 2004, GT1 from 2005 to 2009, and FIA GT3 from 2010 to 2016. The championship featured classes for both professionals and amateurs. GT3 rules included extensive performance balancing and handicap weights to make cars artificially more equal.
In 2016, grids depleted and Oreca cancelled the championship. For the 2017 season, the SRO Group became again the promoter and the GT4 regulations were adopted.
As of 2023 the series is known as FFSA GT - GT4 France.