“I think the transition will come naturally, we will introduce GT2 at Spa (for the 24) when we have enough cars for a real class, about six to eight. We have a platform globally, already this year. “The car is eligible for every round of Intercontinental GT, European, America and Asia. The grid is slim but I have no doubt it will grow rapidly,” Ratel told DSC at the MC20 GT2 launch. “We have many cars now, but we need many cars running, that’s the next step. And the solution may lie in the maturing GT2 ruleset, which has just been boosted by the public reveal of Maserati’s MC20 in Belgium and is set to be bolstered in the near future by another manufacturer that has not yet been named.

So what does the future hold? Naturally, the SRO, and particularly Stephane Ratel, is quietly planning for the future.

Look no further than the cost of the newest models, which are eye-opening and eye-watering, with the pricing understood to be set at 700 thousand Euros plus for more than one of the new breed of cars. “It feels like this form of racing will be gone in five years right now,” a senior manufacturer representative said in a conversation with DSC before Qualifying here at Spa. With inflation impacting the cost of racing across the board, there is now genuine concern in paddocks around the world that the level of interest can be sustained in the coming years, let alone grow. Yet it feels like GT3 racing is reaching a critical point. The paddock is packed tight, the structures behind the garages have never been so high and the competition on track has never been this intense. Look around, and there are GT3 teams and manufacturers throwing more resources into the platform than ever before. The atmosphere trackside amongst the teams here at Spa has been peculiar. Held with the build-up to the 2023 Spa 24 Hours as its backdrop, the SRO’s Annual Press conference today proved to be a significant gathering for Stephane Ratel to give key industry stakeholders a window into his vision for the future of GT racing around the world.

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