The Spanish GT Championship / Iber GT (''Campeonato de España de GT / Iber GT'') was a Spanish

auto racing Auto racing (also known as car racing, motor racing, or automobile racing) is a motorsport involving the racing of automobiles for competition. Auto racing has existed since the invention of the automobile. Races of various sorts were organise ...

series founded in 1999 and organised by the GT Sport Organización. The series runs multiple classes of

grand tourer A grand tourer (GT) is a type of car that is designed for high speed and long-distance driving, due to a combination of performance and luxury attributes. The most common format is a front-engine, rear-wheel-drive two-door coupé with either ...

cars in events around Spain and

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic ( pt, República Portuguesa, links=yes ), is a country whose mainland is located on the Iberian Peninsula of Southwestern Europe, and whose territory also includes the Atlantic archipelagos of ...

. The series later formed the basis for the

International GT Open The International GT Open is a grand tourer-style sports car racing series founded in 2006 by the Spanish GT Sport Organización. It was a spin-off of the now-defunct Spanish GT Championship, but is now a distinct series featuring FIA GT3-spec car ...

, a European-wide series which follows a similar structure.

Format

For racing events, Spanish GT has changed very little since its inception. Each event consists of two races of equal distance, one run on Saturday and the other on Sunday. Each race has its own qualifying session to determine the grid. The races both count towards the points championship, effectively doubling the series schedule. Initially, three classes of cars were used for the series, termed GT2, GT3, and GT4. This was soon replaced by the GTA, GTB, and GTC classes. These cars ranged from the

FIA FIA is the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (English: International Automobile Federation), the world's governing body for all forms of motor sport where four or more wheels are used. Fia or FIA may also refer to: People * Fia Backst ...

's GT2 class equivalent down to cars from one make series. The slowest class, GTC, was eliminated in 2001, only to return in 2004. A new GTS class was introduced in 2005, initially for the custom-built

SEAT Toledo The SEAT Toledo is a small family car produced by the Spanish manufacturer SEAT, part of Volkswagen Group. The Toledo name was first introduced to the SEAT line up in May 1991 being named after a Spanish city with the same name, with the fourt ...

GT, but was adapted in 2006 to use cars from the

FIA GT3 European Championship The FIA GT3 European Championship was a sports car racing series organized by the Stéphane Ratel Organisation (SRO) and regulated by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). It was a championship derived from the international FIA ...

, originally without scoring points in the first year. In the current format, the GTA class is dominated by the

Ferrari F430 The Ferrari F430 (Type F131) is a sports car produced by the Italian automobile manufacturer Ferrari from 2004 until 2009 as a successor to the Ferrari 360. The car is an update to the 360 with exterior and performance changes. It was unveiled a ...

GT2,

Porsche 911 GT3 The Porsche 911 GT3 is a high-performance homologation model of the Porsche 911 sports car. It is a line of high-performance models, which began with the 1973 911 Carrera RS. The GT3 has had a successful racing career in the one-make national ...

-RSR,

Mosler MT900 The Mosler MT900 is a sports car that was built in the United States and the United Kingdom by Mosler Automotive. Three submodels were produced. The MT900R was a racing version of the MT900. The basic car was updated as the MT900S for 2005, with ...

R, and the custom-built Sun Red SR21. GTS uses GT3 versions of the Ferrari F430, Porsche 911,

Lamborghini Gallardo The Lamborghini Gallardo (; ) is a sports car built by the Italian automotive manufacturer Lamborghini from 2003 to 2013. It is Lamborghini's second car released under parent company Audi, and best-selling model with 14,022 built throughout its ...

and

Dodge Viper The Dodge Viper is a sports car that was manufactured by Dodge (by SRT for 2013 and 2014), a division of American car manufacturer FCA US LLC from 1992 until 2017, having taken a brief hiatus in 2007 and from 2010 to 2012. Production of the two ...

Competition Coupe. GTB is retained for one-make cup regulation versions of the F430 and 911, as well as the

Marcos Mantis The original Marcos Mantis is a sports car produced by the British car company Marcos Engineering. It was formally introduced in 1968, although it appears that production was slow to start. Announced as being officially released for sale in ...

. The Spanish GT Championship shares several race weekends with the

European F3 Open Championship The Euroformula Open Championship (formerly the Spanish Formula Three Championship, European F3 Open Championship) is a junior formula racing series based in Spain. It was one of six national and international Formula Three championships in Europe ...

, also run by the GT Sport Organización.

Champions

An overall combined drivers championship is awarded each season, adding overall points to class points, which can mean a driver from a lower class of car can be crowned the series champion. Along with this, each individual class also awards their own champion.

References

{{Reflist

External links

Official website
GT Sports car racing series 1999 establishments in Spain 2013 disestablishments in Spain Group GT3