Global Touring Cars (GTC) has confirmed a revamped 2018 Sasol GTC Championship calendar, in which Red Star Raceway will become the sixth circuit that the category will travel to this coming year in a revamped nine-round motorsport season.
Starting in March at the Kyalami Grand Prix Circuit in Midrand, the championship will again visit Aldo Scribante in Port Elizabeth, East London Grand Prix Circuit on the Eastern Cape, Killarney Raceway in Cape Town, Zwartkops Raceway in Gauteng and finish the year in late October at Red Star Raceway which has been added to the calendar for the first time since the category’s inception two years ago.
While eight of the nine rounds will be part of the Extreme Festival, another addition to the 2018 season will be running Round 7 of the championship at the SA Festival of Motoring at Kyalami, where tens of thousands of people from around South Africa come to celebrate all things motorsport and automotive.
“It’s important that GTC continues to grow each year and reach more of our fans across South Africa, so we’re very keen to get to Red Star Raceway later in the year as well as showcase GTC to the huge crowds at the SA Festival of Motoring,” said GTC director Gary Formato.
“Introducing a new circuit in particular, where no one has any form of testing or racing data, will also add an exciting element to our championship fight which we expect to go down to the final few races again like last year. In the coming months, we’ll unveil details about new entries to the grid and also improved ways of reaching out to our fans at each round so that we can truly showcase the best of GTC to a wider audience and make 2018 our best season yet.”
Engen Xtreme Team’s Michael Stephen claimed his second consecutive Sasol GTC Championship at the final round at Zwartkops Raceway last November, ahead of title rival Gennaro Bonafede from the Sasol GTC Racing Team, and third-placed fellow Audi driver Simon Moss who broke through for his first two wins in GTC at the grand finale.
In GTC2, Volkswagen Motorsport’s Keagan Masters took his inaugural title in the production class, ahead of Mini South Africa’s Chris Shorter and TB Racing’s Trevor Bland in third.
More information about the 2018 Sasol GTC Championship will be announced in coming weeks.