As usual the TOTAL 24 Hours of Spa, the jewel of the Blancpain GT Series schedule, is attracting attention not only because of the race itself, but also by the number of announcements that Stéphane Ratel and the SRO Motorsports Group do during the week in Belgium, regarding the differents series under the wing of the entity.
Starting with the Blancpain GT Sprint Cup, the grid will move from a Pro Cup grid cap to an overall grid cap of 26 cars, with the reason being the damage control due to multi-car crashes, which tend to hinder the race pace with long Safety Car periods. The 2019 calendar also presents a return to Barcelona and also the long-awaited inclusion of the Red Bull Ring on it, while Nürburgring and Zolder leave the Sprint Cup, though only the Belgian venue will leave the Blancpain GT Series as a whole.
The Blancpain GT Endurance Cup will retain the Nürburgring event from the Sprint Cup, being it the penultimate event of a five-event schedule with no changes in the other venues. Though the German circuit will return to the Endurance Cup, it won’t get back the 1000 km format used in previous seasons, as Paul Ricard uses it currently.
Since the adoption of the Blancpain GT Series name to comprise its two series, it will be the first time since 2014 that the season will start with an Endurance Cup race.
2019 Blancpain GT Series calendar
Sprint
Brands Hatch - May 4th & 5th
Red Bull Ring - May 25th & 26th
Misano - June 29th & 30th
Hungaroring - September 7th & 8th
Barcelona - September 28th & 29th
Endurance
Monza - April 14th
Silverstone - May 12th
Paul Ricard 1000 - June 2nd
TOTAL 24 Hours of Spa - July 27th & 28th
Nürburgring - September 1st
The Blancpain GT Series Asia also had subtle changes in its regulations and calendar, with a driver with Asian passport being now mandatory in every car taking part of the series, similar to what happens in the Asian Le Mans Series and the Asian Le Mans Sprint Cup. Also, Yeongam will join the calendar in 2019 as the fifth round, with China’s Ningbo holding just a single event, being this the 2018 season finale.
By the way, Shanghai is the only venue without a fully confirmed date yet, but it’s certain that it will be around September and will take the season finale post from Ningbo.
2019 Blancpain GT Series Asia calendar
Sepang - April 6th &7th
Buriram - May 11th & 12th
Suzuka - June 22nd & 23rd
Fuji - July 6th & 7th
Yeongam - August 3rd & 4th
Shanghai - September
Another inclusion in the SRO calendar is in the Intercontinental GT Challenge, with the famous Kyalami 9 Hours being included in the championship calendar from 2019 as a season finale on November 3rd. The race was an absolute classic in the South African Endurance Series, specially with track being renewed by Porsche South Africa, and now adds another continent to the IGTC, making it five races in five continents.
2019 IGTC calendar
Bathurst 12 Hour - February 3rd
California 8 Hours - In March or April
TOTAL 24 Hours of Spa - July 27th & 28th
Suzuka 10 Hours - August 25th
Kyalami 9 Hours - November 3rd
PHOTOS: SRO
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