The series follows a three-class structure, with most entries eligible for Overall honours, drivers aged 60 and over are catered for thanks to the Iron Cup classification, and the Titanium Cup pits competitors aged 50-59 against each other.
For gentleman drivers new to sportscars, the Blancpain GT Sports Club provides an ideal stepping stone and proving ground between club competition and professional-level racing in Europe and beyond.
It is also an opportunity to bring a wider variety of GT cars together. Indeed, the Blancpain GT Sports Club is the only series to balance GTE-spec machinery with that of GT3, RACB G3 and single-make championships, offering owners of each the chance to race on a level playing field without investing in newer technology. Furthermore, in some cases it also provides a home for highly capable GT cars now replaced with newer models by manufacturers and teams competing in the sport’s upper echelons.
The Blancpain GT Sports Club acts as an official support championship to five Blancpain GT Series rounds in 2019.
This exciting international endeavour will present GT3 manufacturers, partners and teams with the chance to compete in worldwide customer racing and measure the success of their achievements on a truly global scale.
Each series will retain its present status as an individual championship and will be known as Blancpain GT World Challenge Europe, Blancpain GT World Challenge Asia and Blancpain GT World Challenge America.
Drawing inspiration from the concept successfully pioneered in the Intercontinental GT Challenge, where manufacturers compete through local teams, each GT3 manufacturer will be able to establish a line-up of 12 drivers who will score points for their brand in the overall Blancpain GT World Challenge.
They will be split across the three continental sprint series, with four competing in the GT World Challenge Europe, four in the GT World Challenge America and four in the GT World Challenge Asia.
To fully integrate all classes of driver, each group must include a star (classified as Platinum); a good professional (classified Gold); an up-and-coming driver or a very experienced non-professional (classified Silver); and a Gentleman driver or former star (classified Bronze).
With major manufacturers striving to demonstrate their excellence in the competitive arena of international customer racing, the new Blancpain GT World Challenge will take on-track competition to a new level in 2019 and beyond.