French GT Championship
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The FFSA GT Championship (''Championnat de France FFSA GT'') is a French
Grand Touring 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 ...
-style
sports car racing Sports car racing is a form of motorsport road racing which utilises sports cars that have two seats and enclosed wheels. They may be purpose-built prototypes or grand tourers based on road-going models. Broadly speaking, sports car racing is ...
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 French Federation of Automobile Sport (french: Fédération Française du Sport Automobile, FFSA), founded in 1952, is one of the National Sports Associations affiliated to the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA), with the aim of orga ...
(FFSA) and organized by racing company
Oreca ORECA (Organisation Exploitation Compétition Automobiles) is a French racing team and race car constructor, founded in 1973 and run by Hugues de Chaunac, former team manager of F1 team AGS. Oreca has had success in many areas of motorsport. ...
. Since the demise of the
French Supertouring Championship The Championnat de France de Supertourisme ( en, French Supertouring Championship) was a touring car racing championship organised by the Fédération Française du Sport Automobile between 1976 and 2005. The championship was contested on several ...
after the 2005 season, the French GT has become France's major circuit racing championship.


History

Founded by Patrick Peter in 1997 as an offshoot of the international
BPR Global GT Series The BPR Global GT Series (sometimes referred to as the BPR Global GT Endurance Series or simply abbreviated as BPR.) was a grand tourer-based sports car racing series which ran from 1994 to 1996 before becoming the FIA GT Championship in 1997. The ...
, 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 saw the SRO Group took over the series as the classes were reorganized to reflect the changes made in the new
FIA GT Championship The FIA GT Championship was a sports car racing series organized by the Stéphane Ratel Organisation (SRO) at the behest of the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). The championship was mostly concentrated in Europe, but throughout ...
, continuing in a similar formula today. In 2011, the series was handed over from SRO to
Oreca ORECA (Organisation Exploitation Compétition Automobiles) is a French racing team and race car constructor, founded in 1973 and run by Hugues de Chaunac, former team manager of F1 team AGS. Oreca has had success in many areas of motorsport. ...
, 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 Group GT3, known technically as Cup Grand Touring Cars and commonly referred to as simply GT3, is a set of regulations maintained by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA) for grand tourer racing cars designed for use in various au ...
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.


Circuits

*
Circuit d'Albi The Circuit d'Albi is a motorsport race track located in the French town of Le Sequestre near Albi, about northeast of Toulouse. Built to replace the nearby '' Les Planques'' public road circuit, Albi has 70 years of history in motor-racing, ...
(1997, 2002–2011, 2020–2022) *
Circuit Bugatti The Circuit des 24 Heures du Mans, also known as Circuit de la Sarthe (after the 1906 French Grand Prix triangle circuit) located in Le Mans, Sarthe, France, is a semi-permanent motorsport race course, chiefly known as the venue for the 24 Ho ...
(1998–1999, 2001–2006, 2012–2015) *
Circuit de Charade The Circuit de Charade, also known as Circuit Louis Rosier and Circuit Clermont-Ferrand, is a motorsport race track in Saint-Genès-Champanelle near Clermont-Ferrand in the Puy-de-Dôme department in Auvergne in central France. The circuit, buil ...
(1998) * '' Circuit Dijon-Prenois'' (1997–1998, 2000, 2002–2012, 2017–2018, 2023) *
Circuit de Lédenon Circuit de Lédenon is a motor racing circuit located next to the town of Lédenon, Gard, France, about northeast of Nîmes. It hosts FFSA GT Championship and French F4 Championship. History In 1970, two motor sport enthusiasts, Jean-Claude a ...
(1999–2015, 2019, 2021–present) *
Circuit de Nevers Magny-Cours Circuit de Nevers Magny-Cours is a motor racing circuit located in central France, near the towns of Magny-Cours and Nevers, some from Paris and from Lyon. It staged the Formula One French Grand Prix from 1991 (succeeding Circuit Paul Rica ...
(1997–2015, 2017–present) *
Circuit de Pau The Pau Grand Prix (french: Grand Prix de Pau) is a Motorsport, motor race held in Pau, Pyrénées-Atlantiques, Pau, in the Pyrénées-Atlantiques department of southwestern France. The French Grand Prix was held at Pau in 1930, leading to th ...
(1999, 2001–2003, 2005, 2017–2019) *
Circuit Paul Armagnac Circuit Paul Armagnac also known as Circuit de Nogaro is a motorsport race track located in the commune of Nogaro in the Gers department in southwestern France. The track is named in honor of Nogaro-born racing driver Paul Armagnac who died ...
(1997–2011, 2014, 2016–present) *
Circuit Paul Ricard The Circuit Paul Ricard () is a French motorsport race track built in 1969 at Le Castellet, Var, near Marseille, with finance from pastis magnate Paul Ricard. Ricard wanted to experience the challenge of building a racetrack. The circuit has h ...
(1997, 2009, 2011–2015, 2017–present) * ''
Circuit du Val de Vienne Circuit du Val de Vienne is a motor racing circuit located in Le Vigeant, France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas region ...
'' (1997, 2000–2001, 2003–2015, 2023) * Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps (1998, 2008, 2013–2015, 2019, 2021–2022) *
Circuit Ricardo Tormo Circuit Ricardo Tormo, also known as ''Circuit de Valencia'' and officially named ''Circuit de la Comunitat Valenciana Ricardo Tormo'', is a motorsport race track located in Cheste (Valencian Community, Spain) and built in 1999. The track is n ...
(1999) *
Circuito de Navarra Circuito de Navarra is a motorsport race track that opened in June 2010 near Los Arcos in the Navarre region of Northern Spain. It is a permanent road course that hosted the Superleague Formula series and the FIA GT1 World Championship. Hist ...
(2012, 2015) * Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya (2017–2018) *
Hungaroring The Hungaroring is a motorsport racetrack in Mogyoród, Pest County, Hungary where the Formula One Hungarian Grand Prix is held. In 1986, it became the location of the first Formula One Grand Prix behind the Iron Curtain. Bernie Ecclestone w ...
(2000) * Autodromo Nazionale Monza (2001) * Autodromo Enzo e Dino Ferrari (2013)


Champions


References


External links

* Sports car racing series Group GT3 GT4 (sports car class) Auto racing series in France Recurring sporting events established in 1997 1997 establishments in France {{Motorsport-stub