The scream of Italian racing machines reverberated around the streets of Bucharest last week when a press conference and demonstration of FIA GT cars on part of the track to be used in next year's innovative new round of the series took place in the Romanian capital city. The launch event took place on 5th November in front of approximately 15,000 enthusiastic spectators who lined the streets, and the cars seen in action included a Vitaphone-liveried Maserati GranSport Trofeo and one of the GT1 class Lamborghini Murciélago R-GT racers which were campaigned by the French DAMS outfit at the tail end of the 2004 FIA GT series. Other cars making demonstration runs included the the GT2 Porsche 911 RSR and the GT3 Lamborghini Gallardo.

Bucharest's city track will host the fourth round of the 2007 FIA GT Championship. Speakers at the press conference were Mr. Hartmut Beyer - CEO Bucharest Ring, organiser of the 2007 event,  Mr. Stephane Ratel, Chairman of SRO (Promoter of the FIA GT Championship), Mr. Hermann Tilke (architect of the track), Mr. Constantin Niculescu (President of the Romanian Automobil Club ACR) and Mr. Uwe Strohmeyer (Managing Director of the Bucharest Ring). Drivers in attendance included Thomas Biagi, Karl Wendlinger, pilots from the Renauer Motorsport Team, and leading Romanian Drivers such as Mihai Marinescu, Doru Sechelariu (both who race in Formula Renault 2000) and Claudiu David (Dacia Logan Cup).

Race Alliance driver Karl Wendlinger made countless taxi drives on the provisional street course around the palace, nowadays the location of the Romanian parliament. The 3.1 km circuit was designed by leading F1 architect Hermann Tilke, who has already designed and built the Grand Prix tracks in Bahrain, Istanbul and China among others. “We just built up a fraction of the entire circuit for today, of course. Many more adjustments will be necessary for the FIA GT race next year”, the man from Aachen explained, “For example we will lay new asphalt in the braking zones and in the corners.” Wendlinger was enthusiastic: “It’s not a typical street course, because there’s just a few corners with four long straights – but the backdrop is overwhelming. This race will further increase the value of our championship for sure.” Lukas Lichtner-Hoyer, team owner of RaceAlliance, thought likewise: “Looking at the amount of spectators that were already present today, we can expect a real spectacle.”

Meanwhile to 2007 FIA GT Championship calendar and regulations were recently revealed. Changes to the championship include the following measures: The number of events counting towards the Championship will be limited to 10; events will be run over two days; races will run for two hours and each car will have to perform two mandatory pit stops; each car will be allowed to use a maximum three engines per season; each car will use a single set of gearbox ratios for the entire season and a maximum of three final drives homologated by the FIA. Following the acceptance of these principles, detailed regulations will be submitted to the December World Council.
 

The new FIA GT Championship season will kick off on 26th March 2007 at the Zhuhai circuit in China, and the build-up to the first round of the next edition of FIA GT Championship got underway in Zhuhai at the end of last month with a press conference and display to launch the race. To officially announce the prestigious 2007 event, Zhuhai International Circuit had invited guests from China and abroad to gather at the Holiday Inn Zhuhai on Saturday, October 20th 2006. Guests included Xian Tong Chun, Director of Automobile Sport Dept of FASC.; Zhuhai Municipal Government leader; Mr. Stephane Ratel, Chairman of SRO (FIA GT Championship Promoter) and Mr. Wang Jian Hua, Senior Deputy General Manager of Frestech Electrical Appliances.

In a celebration revolving around Chinese symbolism, Chinese knots, Chinese traditional music, the links between the FIA GT Championship and the country of China were commemorated. From the start, GT established strong ties with China. Upon ZIC’s creation, in 1996, the BPR GT Global endurance series came to race in China. In 1999, the FIA GT established a China Round race and became the first FIA Championship to race at a Chinese racing circuit. In 2004 and 2005, FIA GT returned to China, fully sensing the vibrant country’s energy.

The opening round at Zhuhai on 25th March will be followed by Silverstone, UK (6th May); Bucharest City, Romania (20th May);  Monza, Italy (24th June); Oschersleben, Germany (8th July); 24 Hours of Spa (29th July); Adria, Italy (8h September); Brno, Czech Republic (23rd September); Nogaro, France (30th September or 8th October) and finally at Zolder on 21st October. The Brno and Nogaro rounds' inclusion are still subject to ASN confirmation.