The purchase follows a two-year plan where both organization worked closely together.
The addition of the Pirelli World Challenge will allow SRO Motorsports Group to propose a global GT Racing platform to the drivers, teams and manufacturers.
The North American leadership and management of the Series will not change, while Bob Woodhouse, Peter Cunningham, Jim Haughey and Greg Gill will remain as Members of the Board.
Stephane Ratel, Founder and CEO SRO Motorsports Group: "I am very pleased to make this announcement. Having started my business journey as a college student in San Diego, California many years ago. I am very pleased to be adding the Pirelli World Challenge in totality to our global business. This addition was the final piece in our plan to provide global GT racing to our drivers, teams and manufacturers around the world. Our next step will be to meet with our PWC paddock members and discuss the future together."
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About WC Vision LLC producers of the Pirelli World Challenge,
Now in their 29th season, the Pirelli World Challenge is a North American auto racing series launched in 1990 by the SCCA. It has been managed by WC Vision LLC since 2008, and owned outright since 2014. The Series is sanctioned by the United States Auto Club. The Series was the first to introduce GT3, GT4, and TCR cars to race in North America.
The series consists of six classes of vehicles: Classes are GT for GT3 vehicles, GT Cup for Cup Series Cup cars. GTS for GT4 cars, and TC, TCR and TCA for their respective classes.
More manufacturer brands participate in the Pirelli World Challenge than in any other sports car racing Series in the world.
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SRO Motorsports Group, the architect of modern GT racing
Over the past 25 years SRO has specialised in the promotion and organisation of motorsport series around the world.
Inextricably linked with GT racing’s revival in the early 1990s, currently SRO predominantly promotes series that adhere to the successful GT3 and GT4 regulations. Indeed, these rules – a common framework allowing manufacturers, teams and drivers to compete equally with one another – have helped to establish SRO as the global leader in customer GT racing.
Today, SRO’s influence and organisation can be seen around the world. Its flagship continues to be the European-based Blancpain GT Series, which features both the Sprint and Endurance Cups. Its annual highlight remains the iconic Total 24 Hours of Spa.
The same Pirelli tyres and Balance of Performance parameters governing the Blancpain GT Series have also been adopted in the United States by the Pirelli World Challenge (of which SRO is a shareholder), while SRO expanded its successful platform East in 2017 by establishing Blancpain GT Series Asia.
In addition, the world’s best GT races from all four corners of the globe are brought together under the Intercontinental GT Challenge. The 2018 edition features four events – the Liqui-Moly Bathurst 12 Hour, the Total 24 Hours of Spa, the inaugural Suzuka 10 Hours, and the California 8 Hours of Laguna Seca.
SRO is also strong domestically. The multi-class British GT Championship, over which it has presided since 2005, pairs GT3 with GT4 machinery. The FFSA French GT Championship, for many years run by SRO, returned to the fold in 2017, and was added to the existing GT4 European Series. GT4’s incredibly successful first season in France provided SRO with the blueprint and confidence to expand the class’ European footprint further. Three new regional series to support the flourishing GT4 class have been added in 2018: GT4 Nordic European Cup, GT4 Central European Cup and GT4 Belgium Cup.
In addition, SRO’s world-renowned Balance of Performance regulations are licensed by other series running GT3 and/or GT4 machinery, such as Super GT in Japan, the Australian GT Championship, the ADAC GT Masters and the VLN in Germany and the China GT Championship. SRO also works closely with the FIA when organising its prestigious Macau FIA GT World Cup race.
While Macau caters solely for professional teams and drivers, SRO also understands the important role amateurs play in GT racing’s global success and sustainability. That is why it operates the SRO Race Centre by MMC – a high-level technical centre at Circuit Paul Ricard in southern France – and Curbstone Track Events, which provide the ultimate track driving opportunities on world-renowned circuits. Many of its clients have subsequently graduated to the Blancpain GT Sports Club, the first competitive stepping stone towards gaining the confidence and racecraft required to compete in a Pro/Am environment.
SRO Motorsports Group is chaired by company founder and CEO Stephane Ratel and has offices in London, Paris, Liège and Hong Kong. Its dedicated team of full-time and freelance staff work with the support of numerous national sporting authorities and sanctioning bodies to offer teams, drivers and manufacturers the world’s best professional, Pro/Am and amateur GT racing platforms.
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