• Five-round GT3 Revival Series schedule includes Le Mans Classic and Spa Classic
• GT2 European Series adds Silver class and strengthens pathway to GT3 with SRO GT Academy
• Further 2026 calendars revealed for a variety of SRO series
• Press conference presentation and calendars
A full calendar for the new GT3 Revival Series and changes to the GT2 European Series powered by Pirelli were among the announcements made by Stéphane Ratel during his CrowdStrike 24 Hours of Spa press conference. The annual media gathering took place on the eve of the race's 77th edition, which will feature the biggest grid seen during the event's GT era.
The GT3 Revival Series will be run in collaboration between Peter Auto and SRO, which will draw upon era-specific archives to provide the Balance of Performance. It will debut in 2026 using cars homologated from 2006 through 2013, with eligible machinery including crowd pleasers such as the Aston Martin DBRS9, BMW Z4, Ford Matech GT, Nissan GT-R NISMO and Mercedes SLS AMG.
The inaugural season will coincide with the 20th anniversary of GT3, which has become one of the most popular categories in global motorsport. Indeed, the continued success of the CrowdStrike 24 Hours of Spa owes a great deal to the implementation of GT3 rules in 2011.
The new series will undertake a five-round calendar opening at Circuit Paul Ricard, where the GT3 Revival Series will support the season-opening GT World Challenge Europe powered by AWS round (11/12 April). It then heads to Spa-Francorchamps to join Spa Classic (22-24 May), followed by another prestige event at Circuit de la Sarthe for Le Mans Classic (dates to be confirmed).
The final two rounds will both be staged alongside GT World Challenge Europe, with visits to the Nürburgring (29/30 August) and Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya concluding the 2026 campaign. With the exception of Le Mans Classic, each event will feature 220 minutes of track time, culminating in a pair of 50-minute races. Le Mans Classic will see the GT3 Revival Series on-track for 150 minutes, with both races running for 40 minutes.
The GT2 European Series powered by Pirelli was first announced during Stéphane Ratel’s 2020 press conference at Spa-Francorchamps. Next year it will expand to include a Silver class, which will run alongside the continuing Pro-Am and Am classes. A three-hour endurance race during Spa Speedweek is also under consideration as part of a six-round calendar.
What’s more, GT2 Europe will add an SRO GT Academy prize with the support of Maserati and Mercedes-AMG. The best-performing Silver driver competing in either Silver or Pro-Am with a Maserati or Mercedes-AMG will earn a full season in the 2027 GT World Challenge Europe Endurance Cup. They will be placed with a customer Mercedes-AMG team, with no budget required except for repairs. Other manufacturers are welcome to support the Academy and make their drivers eligible.
In a further development, the SRO GT Academy prize offered in the FFSA French GT Championship will now provide the successful driver with a spot on the GT2 Europe grid. This will create a clear pathway from GT4 to GT2 and finally GT3, giving talented drivers the opportunity to progress to the highest levels of sportscar racing.
There will be an important change to GT World Challenge America next year. With the exception of the season-closing Indianapolis 8 Hour, all races will now run to a three-hour format. This refreshed structure is intended to maximise track time and ensure that the weekend builds towards the main event on Sunday afternoon.
The 2026 calendars for a host of other SRO series were revealed during the press conference. Intercontinental GT Challenge will undertake an unchanged five-round schedule which includes the Suzuka 1000km. The Japanese event returns this autumn (12–14 September) following a six-year hiatus. Calendars were also announced for the continental GT World Challenge powered by AWS series in America, Asia, Australia and Europe, British GT, the FFSA French GT Championship, and other regional series around the globe.
Of particular note, Shanghai returns to Asia’s calendar as one of two Chinese events alongside the Beijing Street Circuit, which debuts later this year.
Following today’s press conference attention will return to the track with Superpole taking place at 16:10. This will be followed by a 20-minute Warm-Up, which gets underway at 20:05 and is open to the full field, while tomorrow’s race goes green at 16:30. Live coverage will air in English, German, French, Italian, Flemish and Portuguese on the GT World YouTube channel.
