GTs eye Bahrain race

The event, which would require the approval of all British GT teams, could see cars from this country competing alongside runners from the French series, which Ratel also promotes. It would likely be a precursor to an FIA GT race at the track in 2005.

Ratel said: "There is a project for a GT festival. It could be a round of the French and British GT championships this year. We would need the agreement of all the teams, but it would be fantastic because there could be over 70 cars."

John Ward, SRO's UK motorsport director, said: "At the moment, it's a tentative idea and we're still in the early stages of planning. We've had a positive response from the teams so far. I would say that there was around an 80-85 percent chance of the event happening."

The race is likely to be non-championship, although it is understood that teams were asked for their opinion on whether it should become a points-scoring round.
Ward said that the event's format has yet to be finalised, but that it was likely to mimic the current British GT standard of two one-hour races.

He said: "The cars in our series are set up to run hour-long races, so we wouldn't necessarily want to run for a much longer period."
British GT team bosses have given a largely positive reaction to the plans, although most suggested that they would like to see the event run to a different format.

Embassy Racing boss Jonathan France said: "It should be a great race. I'd like to see them do something special, like a 500 or 1,000km event. That would be a real jewel in the crown for the series."