Insight: Team Principals Weigh In on Fanatec GT America's Future

Team bosses reflect on ways to rejuvenate Fanatec GT World Challenge America powered by AWS grid...

Last weekend’s Fanatec GT World Challenge America powered by AWS season opener at Sonoma Raceway provided the hard-fought racing that sports car racing fans have become accustomed to in SRO America competitions. However, with a slimmed down grid compared to recent years, some series entrants have questioned whether changes could be in store to rekindle the past levels of series participation.

SRO America President and CEO Greg Gill admitted that Fanatec GT America “needs to adjust” amid the evolving motorsports landscape, but to what degree?

From shorter races to adding a GT4 class or encouraging GT2 cars to join the grid, team principals appear divided on a so-called ‘magic solution’ to help grow the grid in SRO’s flagship GT3 series in North America.

"I don't know what the solution is,” admits Flying Lizard Motorsports program manager Darren Law. “You have to look from the series' side and you have to look from the customer's side. 

"I believe the customers currently like the hour-and-a-half format, at least my guys do, because each driver gets at least 50 minutes of drive time. If you do a one-hour race, then if you're doing a two-driver program, you may only get 20 minutes. It's a lot of money to just go for a 20-minute run.

"It's a tough call. We want bigger grids but I don't know if it's a good mix to throw the GT4s in there as well. If it's a 60-minute race, fine, but if you're going in longer, you've got to do fueling and got to have all the crew outfitted in fireproofs and helmets and fueling rigs."