Eight brands commit to inaugural GT4 Manufacturer Ranking

The GT4 category will take on a global dimension this year with the launch of a new international contest to be disputed by eight leading manufacturers. 

Aston Martin, Audi, BMW, Ford, McLaren, Mercedes-AMG, Porsche and Toyota will compete in the GT4 Manufacturer Ranking, scoring points via their customer racing teams in GT4 championships and series around the globe. The concept is similar to Fanatec GT World Challenge Powered by AWS, which launched in 2019 to cater for GT3 manufacturers. 

Points will be awarded in eight series organised or licensed by SRO Motorsports Group: the GT4 European Series Powered by RAFA Racing Club, ADAC GT4 Germany, British GT Championship, Championnat de France FFSA GT, Pirelli GT4 America, GT America Powered by AWS, Monochrome GT4 Australia, and Japan Cup. Competing brands will be able to score points in all classes, with the allocation depending on race length and the number of entrants. 

Created and managed by SRO Motorsports Group, the GT4 formula has proven both popular and resilient during its 18-year history. Utilising cars that bear closer resemblance to their road-going equivalents, its success has been built on a balance between price point and performance. 

The formula has been especially popular among amateur drivers who wish to race high-speed machinery that does not rely heavily on aerodynamics. It also offers an affordable route into GT racing for aspiring professionals, many of whom use GT4 as a stepping stone towards GT3. 

This twin appeal has allowed GT4 to flourish, ensuring significant grids in standalone events and as part of multi-category races. Indeed, in 2023 an astonishing 62-car field took to the track at Spa-Francorchamps in a race that combined the GT4 European Series Powered by RAFA Racing Club and GT4 Scandinavia. 

The first chance to score GT4 Manufacturer Ranking points will be over the weekend of 28 March – 1 April, when British GT and FFSA GT launch their seasons at Oulton Park and Nogaro, respectively. A total of 95 races will take place over the course of the campaign, adding up to almost 104 hours of GT4 action.

HOW ARE GLOBAL POINTS SCORED?

SRO Motorsports Group must account for varying degrees of manufacturer participation across each continent when calculating the GT4 Manufacturer Ranking.

As such, points are awarded based on the position of each manufacturer’s leading car per category (Overall, Pro-Am, Am etc) in every race. 

Points for Sprint races of up to 60 minutes are based on the standard allocation (25 – 18 – 15 – 12 – 10 – 8 – 6 – 4 – 2 – 1). This allocation doubles for races lasting two and three hours.

The points scored per brand are then multiplied by the number of cars competing in that category. Therefore, a win in a category with five cars competing is worth less than one where 20 cars are entered.  

No cars are removed from the classification – if the top six cars are from a single brand, the next brand will score points for seventh. These points are added across the categories and races to give the manufacturers’ global score.