GT4 News Notebook, FFSA GT: French Championship Revamped For 2025
In 2017, SRO Motorsports Group returned as the promoter of the FFSA GT French Championship with a transition to GT4 technical regulations.
At the end of the eighth season in this configuration, and after numerous discussions with the teams and drivers, SRO Motorsports Group has decided to make major changes for the 2025 season with three major objective: to reduce costs, simplify the competition and make it more attractive.
Cost reduction
SRO Motorsports Group will implement various measures to significantly reduce the budget needed to aim for a FFSA GT French Champion title.
The 2025 season of the FFSA GT French Championship will include five meetings: the Nogaro Easter Cups, the Dijon-Prenois meeting, Spa Speedweek at Spa-Francorchamps, GT World Challenge Europe at Magny-Cours and the final at the Paul Ricard Circuit.
The budget for tyres will be limited. From now on, two sets of new tyres will be authorized per event. Only tyres used at previous meetings will be used during free practice according to the “carry over” principle. Only the first race of the championship will be an exception since an additional set of new tyres will be authorised during free practice.
The personnel per team will be regulated. Only seven people will be authorized for a team of two cars: a team manager, two engineers, three mechanics and the truck driver, also in charge of the tyres. For teams entering a single car, this figure is reduced to four people, i.e. an engineer and three people whose assignments each team is free to choose.
The general costs related to the championship have also been revised downwards.
To ensure the sustainability of the GT4 category, SRO Motorsports Group will also limit the developments proposed by manufacturers. From the 2025 season, homologation must be maintained for four years, and no longer two years as was the case until now.
Simplification
Arriving in 2020, the Silver Cup allowed two drivers classified Silver by the FIA (i.e. semi-professionals or young professionals) to share the same car. It will disappear in 2025 to make way for the two classes already present in 2017: Pro-Am and Am Cup.
For both participants and spectators, this simplification will make it easier to understand the races with Pro-Am competitors battling at the top of the standings between drivers of the same level and Am Cup crews competing for victory in their class in the heart of the pack.
Similar to British GT or GT2 European Series Powered by Pirelli, and to give as many crews as possible a chance, a success pit stop time penalty will be applied for the three duos who finished the previous race on the podium with 15, 10 and 5 additional seconds of stopping.
Attractiveness
SRO Motorsports Group is very committed to setting up a pathway allowing the best drivers to climb the different levels of the GT pyramid. Since 2021, the FFSA French Tourism Championship has proven its usefulness: many drivers made their debut at national level in this competition before moving on to the FFSA GT.
In close collaboration with the French Automobile Sports Federation, SRO Motorsports Group wants to go further! At the end of the 2025 season of the FFSA GT French Championship, the best young driver (maximum 26 years old) will receive a budget of €150,000, paid to the GT World Challenge GT3 team of their choice. The winner will also be integrated into the FFSA Academy program where he will receive personalised coaching on the FFSA simulators. In addition, he will benefit from physical and psychological training and monitoring to best prepare them for the challenges ahead.
The sports format will also see its evolution with the appearance (as in GT World Challenge) of a pre-qualification. Its main objective will be to have a better BOP for qualifying.
“We are going back to basics by putting Pro-Am back in the spotlight to offer balanced races that are more understandable for fans and stakeholders,” explains Laurent Gaudin, General Manager of the FFSA GT French Championship. “This promises us some very spectacular races in 2025! In addition to giving more space to amateur drivers, the French competition wants to be revealing and educational for young drivers.
This is why we will set up a ranking that will be reserved for Silver drivers under 26. The winner will be supported to develop as a professional driver: mastery of English, data analysis, technical understanding, physical preparation, etc. In concrete terms, a coach will be made available to support them in their move to GT3 during the 2026 season.”
“GT4 is a superb category that is enjoying enormous success all over the world,” says Stéphane Ratel, founder and CEO of SRO Motorsports Group. “I am convinced that this is the most appropriate formula for the French market.
However, to ensure the sustainability of the FFSA GT French Championship, our discussions with the various stakeholders in the championship have shown us that we must be extremely attentive, mainly in limiting costs. We have therefore implemented strong measures and we are also taking the opportunity to simplify certain points.
Finally, we want to strengthen the attractiveness of the FFSA GT French Championship overall. This will already be the case in 2025, but we also have plans for the following years. We will reveal them to you in due course, but I am confident: the next FFSA GT campaigns will be attractive and exciting for both participants and fans!”
GT4 European Series: Academy Name First Mustang Squad
Academy Motorsport’s twin Ford Mustang S650 GT4s will return to this year’s GT4 European Series powered by RAFA Racing Club, with Erik Evans and Marco Signoretti leading the team’s charge.
The British team made big waves across its first season with the new Mustang S650 in 2024, with the thundering 5-litre V8 machines gradually gaining pace as the year went on to end the campaign fighting for outright race wins.
Key to that progress was the duo of American Evans and Canadian Signoretti, who scored two-second places at Hockenheim. They finished the season eighth in the Silver championship, and will be aiming higher for their second GT4 Europe campaign.
The drivers have also received a boost ahead of the new season with Evans and Signoretti both being named as Ford Performance Junior Drivers, putting them on a driver development programme with the Blue Oval aimed at helping them progress to the highest levels of the sport. The team will also benefit from support from Multimatic Motorsports, the global constructor which develops the Mustang GT4 in partnership with Ford Performance.
Prior to his arrival in GT4 Europe last year, Atlanta native Evans won the 2023 British GT4 title at his first attempt in the previous-generation Mustang GT4. Before switching to GT racing, he enjoyed success in single-seaters in America.
Signoretti, from Toronto, has a long history with Academy Motorsport, having competed with the team multiple times across both British and European GT4 racing. Sports Car Championship Canada champion in 2021, he went on to become a British GT race winner and will now target doing the same in the GT4 European Series.
Academy Motorsport team boss Matt Nicoll-Jones says: “We’re delighted to have both Erik and Marco back for this year’s GT4 European Series, and to continue our close relationship with Ford Performance and Multimatic Motorsports.
“We definitely have some unfinished business from last year. We learned so much during our first season with the new Mustang, and it’s never easy tackling a new championship and new circuits with a new car. However, we’re familiar with a lot of things now and we made huge progress with the setup and operation of the Mustang to the point we were fighting for outright wins by the end of the year.
“We aim to start this season the way we ended the last, and come back with the championship firmly in our sights. Both Erik and Marco are part of the Academy Motorsport family and I have full confidence they can get the job done and challenge for podiums and wins right from the start.”
Monochrome GT4 Australia : Audi set to join Silver Cup battle
An Audi spearheaded by open-wheel convert Blake Purdie is set to shake up the established Monochrome GT4 Australia Silver Cup field in 2025.
Driving the Audi R8 LMS GT4 formally piloted by Steve Jukes in two rounds of last year’s schedule, Purdie will be joined by experienced South Australian driver Daniel Price for the season.
Purdie makes the switch to Monochrome GT4 Australia following stints in the Australian Prototype Series, S5000 and F4 Australian Championship certified by FIA.
Scoring eight podiums across three seasons in the S5000 Australian Drivers’ Championship makes Purdie a driver to watch in this year’s Silver Cup title fight. He also scored five podiums on the way to fifth in last year’s F4 Australian Championship certified by FIA, but is preparing for his first tin-top experience.
Price was a leading national karting contender before moving onto the Aussie Racing Cars and Formula 3 after receiving his circuit chance by finishing second in the Aussie Driver Search GT Class driving an Audi.
The program will be backed by Purdie’s long-term supporter Nippy’s fruit juice and milk products and will have leading motorsport outfit Jam Motorsport running the car – making it a true South Australian attack.
For Purdie, Monochrome GT4 Australia provides the perfect pathway towards his aim of a future GT World Challenge Australia powered by AWS drive.
The duo have already successfully tested the Audi and the plan is for more days to take place prior to the opening round.
Monochrome GT4 Australia will host its season opener at GT Festival Phillip Island at Phillip Island Grand Prix Circuit as part of the Shannons SpeedSeries on April 4-6.
Blake Purdie: “We had a look around at a lot of categories, but I’m definitely more interested in going the GT route,” Purdie said.
“What stuck out for me about GT4 was racing on the same weekend as the GT3s and my ultimate goal is to get a drive in one of those down the track, so GT4 is the best way to go.
“It’s been a lot easier to drive the Audi compared to the S5000. After around three laps I was on it in the Audi, so in that regard it was a lot easier to get used to. A massive selling point of the Audi was the engine as it’s the only one in the field, which is a V10 and this was what tipped us over the edge to get one.
“It’s fantastic to have Nippy’s onboard again as my major sponsor. They have supported my racing since I started in go karts so this is our 12th year together.
“I’ve known Daniel for a long time having grown up racing karts with him. We’ve come together to do this GT4 program, so I’m pretty excited and optimistic that we can be competitive.
“I’ve known Aaron Steer at Jam Motorsport for a while, which completes a pretty good team for our first season. We know each other very well and work well together.
“I don’t think there is any reason why we can’t be fighting for wins. Daniel and I form a great line-up, so as long as the Audi can run competitively we will be right up there.”
Daniel Price: “I think I was there on Blake’s first day at the kart track and the relationship grew out of that leading to us travelling together,” Price said.
“I got offered the chance to drive the Super2 and GT at the Aussie Driver Search after my karting career, so I was going in blind. I ended up finishing runner up in the GT competition in Sydney and that’s where I started to pursue a few more circuit racing opportunities.
“I’ve raced competitively in Aussie Racing Cars and Formula 3, so I’m excited to help Blake progress his career in GT4.
“The competitive level of the GT4 is one of the attractive points of the category and it’s nice to know we have a pairing that can be at least on par with the frontrunners already contesting. If we work hard in our pre-season testing, it may just put us at an advantage compared to our opposition.
“Jam Motorsport is an elite operation and when Brett mentioned the team was going to be part of the program, you can’t really turn it down.”
SRO GT Cup: Greater Bay Area GT Cup Added To 2025 Calendar
Asia’s most prestigious GT4 event, the Greater Bay Area GT Cup, has joined the inaugural SRO GT Cup campaign.
Announced in December, the SRO GT Cup comprises four events across China. It starts in March at the Formula 1 Chinese Grand Prix at Shanghai before Zhuhai International Circuit – a venue SRO previously visited with BPR and the FIA GT Championship – is provisionally scheduled to host two more 30-minute races. Then comes the new Beijing Street Circuit, which welcomes GT World Challenge Asia powered by AWS on the same weekend, ahead of SRO GT Cup’s season finale one month later.
As many as 28 cars can compete at the final event. Spaces will be allocated per the standings after Round 2 (provisionally Zhuhai).
Almost 30 cars comprising an impressive 10 manufacturers entered 2024’s Greater Bay Area GT Cup, which has become an important staple of the Macau Grand Prix weekend in recent years. Indeed, no other GT4 event in Asia attracts such quantity or variety, the races usually held on the weekend prior to the Macau Grand Prix proper.
Its Balance of Performance is already managed by SRO which, as an official FIA partner, is also responsible for assembling the FIA GT World Cup grid.
2025’s season finale will be held in late November. Confirmation of Zhuhai’s inclusion and date will be made in due course.
SRO Motorsports Asia General Manager Benjamin Franassovici: “We are delighted, proud, and privileged to add the Greater Bay Area GT race to SRO GT Cup’s inaugural schedule, which begins and ends with China’s two biggest motorsport events.
“We already enjoy a strong working relationship with the Greater Bay Area GT Cup, which has become the most significant race for GT4 cars in Asia. Its inclusion in SRO’s 2025 schedule underlines the scale of our ambition for this new national series.
“This is mirrored in the number of enquiries and full-season entries we have received since the championship was launched just before Christmas. Demand has exceeded our expectations.”
Drivers with either FIA Bronze or Silver gradings are eligible to compete in any currently homologated GT4 car. SRO’s renowned Balance of Performance and sporting environment will also ensure comparable standards to those seen in other SRO championships all over the world.
Race results will also count towards SRO’s GT4 Manufacturer Ranking, a global title awarded to the world’s top-performing GT4 brand at the end of each season. SRO GT Cup joins its Asian counterpart, the Japan Cup, on a list also featuring continental and national series in Europe, America and Australia.
Provisional 2025 SRO GT Cup Calendar
- Races 1 & 2: March 21-23, Shanghai International Circuit (Formula 1 Chinese Grand Prix)
- Races 3 & 4: Date TBA, Zhuhai International Circuit TBC
- Races 5 & 6: October 17-19, Beijing Street Circuit (GT World Challenge Asia powered by AWS)
- Race 7: November, Greater Bay Area GT Cup (Guia Circuit Macau)
