The provisional calendar we released here on December 1 has been adjusted with regard to the end of season races.
April 10 Monza
May 1 Magny-Cours
May 15 Silverstone
May 29 Imola
June 26 Brno
July 31 Spa
August 28 Oschersleben
September 18 Istanbul
October ? Zhuhai (to be advised)
November ? Dubai (to be advised)
November 25 Bahrain

We haven’t received the full calendar yet, but Zhuhai and Dubai have been brought forward, so that Bahrain becomes the last race, on November 25.

For travel to the flyaway races in 2005, teams will benefit from ten airline tickets per car, with free transportation of the car itself, and two tonnes of spares allowed per car. The Istanbul race will see the teams granted a modest 1500 euros assistance, per car.

With all the European races (except Brno) being run in conjunction with the FIA WTCC, the LG Super Racing Weekend title will be dropped in favour of:
“WTCC – LG race of ……” (Italy, France…).

The FIA GT races will still be run from 11.15 until 14.15 (with one exception – see below).

2005 TV coverage of the GT Championship will include:
- each race will be broadcast on Eurosport in a 52-minute same day delayed highlight programme (approx. 10:45 PM - plus repeats).
- a 10 to 15 minutes “GT teaser” will be shown between races 1 & 2 of the World Touring Car Championship (around 16.00 on Sunday), giving race fans a preview of what to expect later each evening
- “a number of races” will benefit from some live coverage (usually the start and finish) while the Proximus 24 Hours of Spa will receive “a number of hours” of live coverage (over seven in 2004)
- either Magny-Cours or Istanbul will be reduced to a two hour race, and shown live throughout
- all races will be shown live, in their entirety, on the newly launched Eurosport 2, and on the Sport Italia terrestrial channel.

The class names will be GT1 and GT2 (as already announced), while clarification of the FIA-ACO rules situation comes with the following statement: “from 1st January 2005, new GT1 Technical Regulations will come into force, bringing together the FIA & ACO regulations, with the only exception being the overall width of the cars. Common GT2 regulations will be finalised for 2006; no major changes are to be made on existing N-GT cars” (for 2005).

Information is as yet unavailable regarding 2100mm wide cars (read MC12s) running in ACO events.

Group 2 cars will be invited to compete in FIA GT races (as announced on dsc earlier this month), while the best-placed GT2 cars will be invited to the overseas races at the end of the year.

“Article 32 of the Sporting Regulations, which regulates the participation of Manufacturers in the FIA GT Championship, has been clarified. From 2005, a Manufacturer may enter the Championship officially, for a maximum of three races, without scoring points but having the right to a separate overall podium, in order to prove its product and sell cars to teams for the following season.” Privateer entries only then for 2005, apart from ‘AF Corse’-type entries at three meetings. Additionally, the organisers are moving to ensure that manufacturer support for individual teams is in line with the Championship rules. Teams will be required to give a clear picture on issues including driver contracts, assistance with tyres, special agreement on parts etc.

We were already sure that BMS Scuderia Italia and RML had withdrawn, but it is also confirmed that Zwaans Racing has withdrawn from the FIA GT Championship: the Italian and UK teams have already announced their LMES intentions. The FIA GT race organisers though still seem confident of attracting 30 car grids made up of 20 GT1 and ten GT2 / Group 2 cars, with the GT1 grid expected to comprise four to five Ferrari 575s, four to five Maserati MC 12s, five or six Saleen S7s, one or two Corvette C5-Rs (see below), one or two Ferrari 550 Maranellos and one or two Lamborghini Murciélagos, as well as the return of Lister Storm Racing with one or two cars. “Aston Martin DBR9s are likely to be seen in the second half of the season”. The Nissan 350Z should be seen later in the year too.

Group 2 has already drawn interest from Mosler, Gillet and Corvette (C5) teams.

The prospects of Chevrolet Corvette C5-Rs competing in the 2005 FIA GT Championship have been raised with news that General Motors has formally requested that the FIA homologate the car. We had the news on dsc before Christmas that Carsport Holland is about to obtain an ex factory Corvette. Homologation of the C5-R ought to be straightforward enough……