Global Touring Cars (GTC) has today released details of a new-look 2019 championship calendar with two new circuits being introduced to the eight-round season.
Starting in early March with the Extreme Festival, GTC will head to Port Shepstone to race for the first time at Dezzi Raceway, a circuit quickly becoming a feature on national racing calendars. The championship will then head to a mix of circuits including Zwartkops Raceway (Gauteng), Killarney Raceway (Cape Town) and Aldo Scribante (Port Elizabeth) before breaking away with the tour in August to be part of the SA Festival of Motoring at the Kyalami Grand Prix Circuit once again. The calendar will then finish the year with an additional visit to Cape Town followed by the finale in late October at Red Star Raceway (Delmas).
While seven of the eight rounds are part of the Extreme Festival, the standalone event at the Johannesburg International Motor Show returns after the huge success of racing in front of tens of thousands of people at Kyalami from all around South Africa in 2018.
“Last year was another huge step up for GTC with us racing in front of so many new fans at the SA Festival of Motoring and we knew last year that we wanted to make sure it was part of our calendar again,” said GTC director Gary Formato.
“Plus starting and ending the season at two completely new circuits, where no-one has raced these cars or done any form of testing, will add an exciting element to our championship fight which we expect to go down to the final races like the last few seasons.”
Last year, Engen Audi’s Michael Stephen claimed his third consecutive Sasol GTC Championship title at the final round at Zwartkops Raceway last October, ahead of title rival and teammate Simon Moss and Gennaro Bonafede from the Sasol GTC Racing Team in third.
In GTC2, Volkswagen Motorsport’s Keagan Masters took his second title in the production class, ahead of Signature Motorsport’s Devin Robertson and Brad Liebenberg. More information about GTC in 2019 will be announced in coming weeks.
2019 Calendar
Round 1: March 1-2. Dezzi Raceway, Port Shepstone
Round 2: April 5-6. Zwartkops Raceway, Gauteng
Round 3: May 10-11. Killarney Raceway, Cape Town
Round 4: June 14-15. Aldo Scribante Circuit, Port Elizabeth
Round 5: July 26-27. Zwartkops Raceway, Gauteng
Round 6: August 23-25. SA Festival of Motoring, Kyalami Grand Prix Circuit
Round 7: September 27-28. Killarney Raceway, Cape Town
Round 8: October 25-26. Red Star Raceway, Delmas
