FIA GT Championship – Nogaro – Preview
Masses Of GT Racing

It’s a very full programme of events at Nogaro this weekend, with the FIA GT event running alongside the FFSA GT Championship – and with FIA GT4s as well.

Friday September 28
09.00 – 09.50 GT4 European Cup Free Practice 1 50’
10.00 – 11.00 FFSA French GT Championship Free Practice 1 60’
11.10 – 12.10 Formula 3 Euroseries Free Practice 60’
14.00 – 14.50 GT4 European Cup Free Practice 2 50’
15.00 – 15.30 Diester Racing Cup Free Practice 30’
15.40 – 16.40 FFSA French GT Championship Free Practice 2 60’
16.50 – 17.20 Formula 3 Euroseries Qualifying Practice Race 1 30’
17.30 – 18.00 GT4 European Cup Qualifying Practice 1 30’

Saturday September 29
08.30 – 09.15 FFSA French GT Championship Qualifying Practice 1 20/5/20
09.25 – 10.45 FIA GT Championship Free Practice 1 80’
10.55 – 11.25 GT4 European Cup Qualifying Practice 2 30’
11.35 – 12.00 Diester Racing Cup Qualifying Practice 25’
13.15 – 14.35 FIA GT Championship Free Practice 2 80’
15.00 – 15.40 Formula 3 Euroseries Race 1 40’ (LIVE TV)
16 05 – 17.05 FFSA French GT Championship Race 1 60’
17.30 – 18.00 GT4 European Cup Race 1 30’
18.10 – 18.45 FIA GT Championship Qualifying Practice 15/5/15 (LIVE TV)

Sunday September 30
08.30 – 09.00 FIA GT Championship Warm Up 30’
09.10 – 09.55 FFSA French GT Championship Qualifying Practice 2 20/5/20
10.20 – 10.50 Diester Racing Cup Race 1 30’
11.15 – 11.55 Formula 3 Euroseries Race 2 40’ (LIVE TV)
13.15 – 15.15 FIA GT Championship Race 2h (LIVE TV)
15.40 – 16.10 Diester Racing Cup Race 2 30’
16.35 – 17.35 FFSA French GT Championship Race 2 60’
18.00 – 18.30 GT4 European Cup Race 2 30’

So it’s a full range of the formats of current GT racing: there are the half hour GT4 events (which will see the debut of the Ginetta G50), the two one-hour FFSA races (GT1, GT2 and GT3) and the main race, over two hours, for GT1s and GT2s.

The FFSA (and GT4) events are likely to be easier to follow; half an hour and no pit stops for the tiddlers, one hour with a stop for the French Championship – where despite success ballast, the Oreca Saleens have absolutely dominated the season (they’ve won all the races except one). This is the start of the first race of the FFSA GT season, at Nogaro back in April.

The FIA GT Championship also employs success ballast – but rather more successfully (at least in GT1) in terms of balancing out the pace of the cars. The result is that the points are astonishingly close with just the Nogaro and Zolder races to come.

GT1 Driver Points
1 Thomas Biagi 47
Andrea Bertolini 47
Andrea Piccini 47
2 Christian Montanari 44
Miguel Ramos 44
3 Ryan Sharp 43
Karl Wendlinger 43
4 Mike Hezemans 40
Jean-Denis Deletraz 40
5 Anthony Kumpen 34.5 - plus 10?
Bert Longin 34.5 - plus 10?
6 Michael Bartels 31
7 Jamie Davies 25
Fabio Babini 25
8 Alessandro Pier Guidi 21
Fabrizio Gollin 21
Stefan Mücke 21
Christophe Bouchut 21

Perhaps the points will be adjusted before this weekend though – if Kumpen and Longin get their 10 back (as they morally should do) for ‘winning’ at Oschersleben? That will make it even closer.

So success ballast can work – but isn’t it introducing an artificiality about the proceedings? Even in Grand-Am it was apparent which team deserved to win the title, but who would you say deserves to in FIA GT1? Thomas Biagi, for leading the points throughout much of the season, and scoring two wins? Sharp and Wendlinger, for being in contention despite only scoring five points at the big race, Spa?

Hezemans and Deletraz, for winning the big race? Kumpen and Longin, for enjoying their success so openly – and then for tackling the authorities so determinedly, when an injustice was thrown their way?

Or Bertolini and Piccini, for such good form throughout the year (one win, two seconds and points in every race except the first) – or Montanari and Ramos (one win and points in every race)?

Or even Davies and Babini, for scoring in every race except the last, even though the Pirellis seem to work better on the Playteam Maseratis, than on their BMS Aston Martin?

And then there’s the pit stop procedures. Michael Cotton vented forth back in July (here) and it’s hard to disagree with anything he wrote then. The two-stop rule makes it incredibly hard to follow what’s happening in the races. There is no need to have two pit stops – it’s as simple as that. The entertainment value of the races has definitely suffered alarmingly this year – at a time when the whole purpose of shortening the races to two hours was to improve the show for TV, wasn’t it? Madness, utter madness.

Final gripe: how daft is it that teams openly announce that they want to finish fourth, so that they lose ballast for the next race?

Looking down the entry list, there are nine competitive cars in each class – but in GT2, even with maximum ballast for both of the AF Corse Ferraris, it’s hard to see one of them, probably Muller and Vilander, not winning again. The two Porsche runners (against seven Ferraris) can probably assume that Nogaro will suit them more than Brno did, but the end of the race will probably see Muller and Vilander crowned as the GT2 Champions.

Sharp and Wendlinger carry 70 kg this weekend, Bertolini and Piccini 35, Montanari / Ramos 40 and Kumpen / Longin 20. So after a miserable run recently, Biagi’s Vitaphone Maserati has no ballast (or rather it has just the 25 kilos for being a Maserati), and Deletraz / Hezemans carry none as well.

Michael Cotton wrote this in early July: “The Spa 24-Hours will be a wonderful event, the showcase of the FIA GT Championship. With success ballast removed we can look forward to a straight fight between Maserati, Corvette, Aston Martin and Lamborghini, and may the best team win.

“Afterwards, the series will be resumed in September with two-hour races that will have the look of crumbs on the table. Take courage, M. Ratel, and breathe some new life into the FIA GT Championship while you still have the teams, and sponsors, and media, on your side.”

Sadly, he hasn’t, yet. Men & Motors will cover qualifying from Nogaro, and the race, live.
MC