SRO presents calendars for 2023

During the 24 Hours of Spa week, another thing that catches the attention of those involved with GT racing in general is the series of announcements from SRO, which usually are related to the future of its competitions, including the next calendars for the FANATEC GT World Challenge and Intercontinental GT Challenge.

For the globe-trotting competition, there two major changes in the calendar and one in the competition aspect. GT2 spec cars will be eligible to take part of all IGTC rounds in 2023, which even includes the 24 Hours of Spa, where they will form what’s now the Am Cup. Along with this, five races were confirmed, with the Suzuka 10 Hours being moved out of the calendar and Abu Dhabi will join in as SRO inherits the Gulf 12 Hours, which used to be raced as a standalone event.

The Gulf 12 Hours will be the third existing event that SRO will incorporate in the IGTC calendar, along with the Bathurst 12 Hour and the 24 Hours of Spa. As a result of Abu Dhabi joining in already in 2022 on 11 December, the Kyalami 9 Hours will not end the current season and it will move to a late February date in 2023, which was the solution found by SRO this year to end the 2021 IGTC season.

With the changes confirmed in the calendar, should the Suzuka 10 Hours go ahead, it will be the last edition of the Japanese race, which in a certain way replaced the Suzuka 1000 km Super GT race.

2023 Intercontinental GT Challenge calendar:

5 February - Bathurst 12 Hour

25 February - Kyalami 9 Hour

29-30 July - Crowdstrike 24 Hours of Spa

9 October - Indianapolis 8 Hour

TBC - Gulf 12 Hour

GTWC Europe will not feature many changes in its 2023 calendar, except with the removal of the Imola Endurance Cup race, which covered the slot of Endurance Cup start in 2020 and 2022, with Monza returning to its traditional slot.

2023 FANATEC GT World Challenge Europe calendar:

16 April - Monza (Endurance)

29-30 April - Brands Hatch (Sprint)

13-14 May - Magny-Cours (Sprint)

4 June - Paul Ricard 1000 (Endurance)

17-18 June - Zandvoort (Sprint)

1-2 July - Misano (Sprint)

29-30 July - Crowdstrike 24 Hours of Spa (Endurance)

3 September - Hockenheim (Endurance)

16-17 September - Valencia (Sprint)

1 October - Barcelona (Endurance)

Test Days - 7-9 March at Paul Ricard/20-21 June at Spa

For GTWC America, the NOLA Motorsports Park that got in this year as an alternative for the Ozarks Raceway, will have a permanent place now as the season opener in February, and being in the same weekend of the Kyalami 9 Hour, it will prevent American teams to fly over to South Africa and compete in IGTC.

On the way for 2023 is also Watkins Glen, as the Circuit of the Americas returns to be the third double header of the season after Sonoma, while VIR, Road America, Sebring and Indianapolis are kept in their date slots.

2023 FANATEC GT World Challenge America calendar:

25-26 February - NOLA Motorsports Park

1-2 April - Sonoma

6-7 May - COTA

17-18 June - VIR

26-27 August - Road America

23-24 September - Sebring

8 October - Indianapolis 8 Hour (Endurance round as part of IGTC)

Both FANATEC GT World Challenge Asia and Australia will have their calendars released in October.

PHOTO: SRO/Jules Beaumont, Kevin Pecks