FIA GT1 Championship under threat?

Sure thing, we all love to see insanely hot looking and powerful machines like the Lamborghini Murcielago, the McLaren MP4-12C and the sorts fight it out on track, but unfortunately for us these hot metals alone are just not enough to sustain a racing series through the years. Such is the case with the FIA GT1 Championship.

The ability of the GT1 Championship to carry on has been in question since the end of its inaugural season in 2010, and FIA has now finally given an ultimatum to the event organisers to either get representation of 10 teams from different manufacturers by the end of August lest the championship be cancelled.

Eight manufacturers (including McLaren, Ferrari, Porsche, Ford, BMW, Lamborghini, Audi and Mercedes-Benz) standing for privateer teams participated in the last race in Slovakia and Aston Martin is likely to make it nine just in time for the next race in Portugal from July 8-10. Post the Portugal round, the series makes its way into Asia racing in China, Russia and for the final round in India on November 30.

With the deadline just a couple of months away, it is surely going to be a task for organisers Stéphane Ratel Organisation (SRO) to find a tenth team. Will Chevrolet or Nissan graduate to the GT1 series from the amateur GT3 European Championship which runs as a support race, or will SRO have to hunt elsewhere to find its tenth, only time can tell.