THE NEW GT FEAST

An action-packed weekend of sports car action at Sydney Motorsport Park is proof of the rise-and-rise of GT racing in Australia.

The GT3 exotics were fast and furious and a 31-car field proved – once again – the rapidly growing popularity of GT4 racing.

There is no threat yet to the domination of Supercars, which has the biggest media rights deal, arguably the best venues, the big name drivers.

Since the early days of the Touring Car Championship in the 1960s and 1960s, through to the 2020s, Supercars is the main game.

Of course, for one week a year, Formula 1 takes centre stage and with a constant of Aussie drivers, has grown and grown.

But the challenge of cementing the next level racing through the National Series has been a slippery slope over many years.

Insurance provider Shannons has been a mainstay sponsor of a CAMS- Motorsport Australia series with a mind-boggling number of classes and venues. Some events attracted some crowd attention, and media coverage has been spasmodic, with many events running as little more than state-level series rounds.

Over recent years the GT Championship has provided the mainstay of the Shannons Series, but a total change of direction led by global sports car czar Stephane Ratel has created a new and vibrant direction for the ‘second’ major championship series.

Although still the Shannons Speed Series, it is now run and promoted by SRO Australia under the global control of Ratel’s burgeoning empire.

With GT3 well established in Australia, the introduction of the GT4 category has seen explosive growth and eight different brands of sports cars competing.

Under its new name, the 2025 GT World Challenge Australia is a sports car feast.

GT3 while still the top bill is struggling to get over 20 cars on the grid, but GT4 topped 30 starters at the last round at Sydney Motorsport Park. Throw in the Radicals and the Porsche Sprint Challenge Australia and the package is very solid.

Race.news caught up with SRO Australia CEO Ben McMellan to get the state of the nation.

Asked about the GT3 category, McMellan said: ‘The goal is mid-20s (entries), but we are also realistic and know that is not going to happen overnight. For us, it is more a build it and they will come approach. We are not going to pick up six or seven cars from nowhere, it is going to take time,” he said.

As both GT3 and GT4 operate under a ProAm and Am concept it is critical that the car owners are the focus of SRO’ efforts to grow.

“As always with customer racing, you build a good product and service and the customers will come,” he added.

The series is benefiting from several established ‘stars’ being drafted by the various car owners to compete. Broc Feeney, Will Brown, Ryan Wood and Thomas Randle to name a few are all regular features in the GT3 class.

“Supercars drivers come with a profile which brings additional media attention and fan attention,” McMellan commented.

“But it is really important to develop our own stars, and I think we have. With some great bronze and silver-rated drivers plus drivers like Jayden Ojeda and Brendon Leitch who have built really strong profiles."

However, like all series, there has been controversy around driver ratings.

The Official SRO entry list notes the driver's FIA ranking, as either Gold, Silver or Bronze. Before the first round at Phillip Island there was tension around drivers leading to the withdrawal of one team altogether and the loss of Paul Stokel from Renne Gracie’s Audi. McMellan was adamant however that the category uses these ratings despite rumblings that they were ‘reviewed’ and could be locally altered.

“We use the FIA ratings, so all the drivers are categorised by the FIA and that is the system we use. There are certain discretions with the local promoter, but the driver categorization is all as per the FIA," he said.

And so to GT4.

One of the biggest supporters of this category is ex-Red Bull Racing boss Roland Dane. He is on the record as far back as 2022 with his push for the expansion of the GT4 concept.               

“I think what’s held GT4 back in this country so far is that the cars have only been able to run with GT3, and the guys running GT4 don’t like the fact that they have to look in the mirrors all the time,” Dane said.

“In plenty of other markets, they’ve separated the two so that GT4 can have its own proper space, and in many places, they’ve got very healthy grids of GT4 cars.”

His prophecy was right indeed accurate with an explosion in numbers and a stand-alone series alongside the big brother GT3 cars.

“We knew the category (GT4) was going to grow after putting a lot of effort into it last year. There has been a really good uptake in entries and I feel the cars are at the right price point, costs can be shared across two drivers, so it ticks a lot of boxes in the market we have here,” McMellan said.

“I probably expected 25 cars to begin 2025 but to have over 30 is amazing, particularly with the manufacturer spread,” he added.

With a category capacity for 36 cars, he acknowledged that there is not a lot more immediate growth to be seen but acknowledged that keeping the product fresh and inviting for customers and fans is the SRO Australia focus.

The 2025 calendar for the Shannons Speed Series see the final round to be held at Hampton Downs in New Zealand at the end of October.    

Although not mandatory, McMellan was confident that most teams heading across the 'ditch'.

“It is up to them (teams) if they go. As a customer-based series, we are not like Supercars so there are no licence obligations to turn up, it is at their discretion,” he explained.

“We have had a lot of positivity around the New Zealand round and there are a lot of opportunities to look at other races while they're on the NZ calendar or even holidays. People are looking forward to the challenge of a new circuit and it is a fantastic facility at Hampton Downs. We are providing some assistance for all GT World Challenge GT3 teams and GT4 teams,” he concluded.