FIA GT1: Gone but not forgotten
The racing was good, the drivers excellent, but the FIA GT1 World Championhip lasted just three years. Gary Watkins asks whether its replacement, the GT Sprint Series, will ever be able to hit the same heights
It happened, and, boy, did it happen. The FIA GT1 World Championship was always dogged by the uncertainty that eventually brought it to a premature end, but it was good while it lasted.
I'll put my hand up and admit that I was a doubter - I didn't think it would ever get off the ground. But somehow Stephane Ratel managed to put a strong grid in place for its inaugural season and arguably an even better one for year two in 2011. And that quality is why I will always remember this short-lived series.
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Gary Watkins has, for reasons best known to himself, devoted all his working life to covering sportscar racing. This season is his 33rd as a motorsport journalist, during which time he has reported on major long-distance events on four continents and approaching 80 24-hour races. He reckons a degree in political philosophy makes him well qualified for covering the sometimes Machiavellian world of international sportscars.
Gary, who also writes for Motor Sport, Autocourse, RACER and others, lives in Surbiton close to the former workshops of the Cooper Formula 1 team but spends more time on the road than at home for most of the year.
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