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10. Conditions For The Participation of Drivers and Composition of the Crews

10.1. Driver Line-ups per Category

10.1.1.

Driver Categories for the Fanatec GT Challenge Europe powered by AWS Endurance Cup

The following Categories will take place :

a) Pro Category Any driver categorisation combination will be accepted.

b) Gold Cup Driver categorisations will be applied and the following maximum line-ups will be accepted :

Cases A and C (three and six-hour Events) : Gold / Gold / Silver Case B (24-hour Events) : Gold/Gold/Gold/Silver or Gold/Gold/Silver

c) Silver Cup Driver categorisations will be applied and the following maximum line-ups will be accepted :

Cases A and C (three and six-hour Events) : Silver / Silver / Silver Case B (24-hour Events) : Silver / Silver / Silver /Silver

d) Bronze Cup Driver categorisations will be applied and the following maximum line-ups will be accepted :

Cases A and C (three and six-hour Events) : Platinum / Silver / Bronze° Case B (24-hour Events) : Platinum/Silver/Silver/Bronze° or Platinum/Silver/Bronze°

e) Pro-Am Category – CrowdStrike 24 Hours of Spa only A Pro-Am category will be opened for Case B – CrowdStrike 24 Hours of Spa only. No points will be awarded, and no season title or classification will take place in 2024.

Driver categorisations will be applied and the following maximum line-ups will be accepted : Platinum / Bronze / Bronze Platinum/Platinum/Bronze/Bronze

Notes: • In all Cups, for Case B, should the Team wish to race with three drivers, the maximum line-ups listed above for Cases A and C for three- and six-hour races will apply. • For Case B (CrowdStrike 24 Hours of Spa), drivers in Gold, Bronze and Pro-Am are subject to driving limits in accordance with Article 20.3.5) • See Article 10.4.7 for the definition of Bronze° • Pro-Am Cup will only be opened if at least three full-season entries are received.

10.1.2.

Driver Categories for the Fanatec GT Challenge Europe powered by AWS Sprint Cup The following Categories will take place :

a) Pro Category No driver categorisations will be applied

b) Gold Cup Driver categorisations will be applied Case D : maximum pairings with one Gold and one Silver driver will be accepted.

c) Silver Cup Driver categorisations will be applied Case D : maximum pairings of two Silver drivers will be accepted

d) Bronze Cup Driver categorisations will apply Case D : maximum pairings of one Platinum driver and one Bronze° will be accepted. Bronze° drivers are defined according to article 10.4.7

10.1.3.

The composition of the crews must be sent to the Promoter at least 14 days before the start of each Event. Any modification to a crew is prohibited after the end of the administrative checks except in case of force majeure acknowledged by the Stewards.

10.1.4.

A car may only be entered in one Cup / Category. In the cases where a line-up is eligible for more than one Cup (for example, Silver/Bronze for Silver Cup or Pro-Am), the Competitor must inform the organiser in which Cup they wish to compete before the end of Administrative Checks.

10.1.5.

Entries in the Bronze Cup are subject to a validation process by the SRO Sporting Board. In case of refusal, a Competitor may appeal to the Teams Committee (see appendix 5)

10.2.

The Fanatec GT Challenge Europe powered by AWS Series is primarily intended for driver crews competing together throughout the season to claim the title.

During the final round of both the Fanatec GT Challenge Europe powered by AWS Sprint Cup and the Fanatec GT Challenge Europe powered by AWS Endurance Cup, the following situations will not be authorised in the Pro category, except in a case of force majeure recognised as such by the SRO Sporting Board:

  • to move a driver who has raced in one car throughout the Sprint or Endurance Series to another car entered by the same Team.

  • To split a pair of drivers who have competed and/or scored points together throughout the Series and who otherwise cannot be separated by the terms of Article 7.9, between two cars entered by that same Team.

  • For a Manufacturer to move a driver who has raced in one car throughout the Sprint or Endurance Series to another car of the same Manufacturer.

  • Any other change in terms of the line-up which is considered by the SRO Sporting Board to be against the spirit of the Fanatec GT Challenge Europe powered by AWS.

The final decision on any such changes will be made by the SRO Sporting Board.

Should a Team enter cars under multiple Competitor licenses due to the limitations in Article 11.3, then all cars entered on these licences will be considered as being one Team for the purposes of this Article.

10.3.

a) At the end of the season, professional (Platinum or Gold) drivers classified alone in the Bronze category of the Fanatec GT Challenge Europe powered by AWS Endurance Cup or the Fanatec GT Challenge Europe powered by AWS Sprint Cup may be removed from the final classification of that Series or Cup. This does not apply to the Overall titles.

b) At the end of the season, for reasons of force majeure accepted as such by the Sporting Board, a driver may be allowed to renounce the points he scored at one round in order to equalise his points with those of his regular co-driver(s) in the final classification. This would not affect the points of his team-mates, Team or Manufacturer.

10.4. Driver Categorisation & Derogations

10.4.1. Categorisation

Drivers wishing to compete in the Fanatec GT Challenge Europe powered by AWS Series must be categorised by the FIA. Drivers who are not categorised must send in a record of achievements to the FIA at the latest fourteen days prior to the beginning of the first Event in which he or she wishes to take part, on the FIA website under http://www.fia.com/fia-driver-categorisation

The definitions of the categories, the Driver Categorisation List and the application form can be found on the FIA website.

All decisions concerning the categorisations are taken under the authority of the FIA Drivers Categorisation Committee.

The list of Competitors allowed to take part in the Competition will indicate the category attributed to each driver.

10.4.2. Temporary Categorisation

The Stewards may give a temporary categorisation to drivers who announce themselves with their record of achievements after the Event has already begun. A fee of up to 200 euros will be payable to the SRO Motorsports Fund for any such requests for late categorisation. Any such temporary categorisations will only be valid for that one Event and will not constitute an FIA categorisation.

Drivers who have not been categorised will not be allowed to take part in any Competition.

10.4.3. Derogations

For the purposes of this Series, the SRO Sporting Board retains the right to make any amendments to the FIA Categorisation of any driver according to the criteria of GT and/or Endurance Racing.

Derogations downgrading a driver’s categorisation may be given, taking into account the following criteria :

• Derogations will be given on a race-by-race basis and will be reassessed after each round. They will be monitored in accordance with Article 10.4.6 below.

• Derogations will normally only be given to drivers for whom data is available in SRO series, showing that they have competed at the level to which they wish to be derogated

• Any driver who has received confirmation from the FIA that they will be downgraded for the following season may be considered for a derogation.

• Derogations will only be given for the Pro-Am category in cases of force majeure for a single event, or for competitors in the IGTC Independent Cup for the CrowdStrike 24 Hours of Spa

The following conditions apply :

a) Any drivers given a temporary categorisation derogation downgrading their categorisation will be indicated in the entry list with an asterisk. Such derogations will only be issued on a race-by-race basis, to be re-assessed after each Competition. Derogations in Pro-Am will in general only be given in situations of force majeure.

b) Derogations upgrading a driver's FIA Categorisation will be indicated with a double asterisk on the entry list, and will be issued in two phases as follows:

a. An initial list of drivers who will be upgraded for the Fanatec GT World Challenge powered by AWS will be issued in December after the FIA categorization process has been completed.

b. b. Drivers who have not competed in an SRO series in the 2022 or 2023 seasons and who plan to compete in the Fanatec GT World Challenge Europe powered by AWS in Gold, Silver or Bronze Cups, must be assessed before a line-up is confirmed.

c) Assessment for cases a. and b. will take place in accordance with Article 10.5

10.4.4. Double Derogations

No more than one derogation will be given to any line-up of drivers competing in any round of the Fanatec GT Challenge Europe powered by AWS Series. This includes derogations to run with two drivers. There are no limits on the number of upgrades in a line-up. No categorisation derogations will be accepted in a line-up which has already received permission to compete with two drivers in Events run according to cases A and C (which is considered to be a derogation in itself)

10.4.5. Penalties and Restrictions

Drivers with derogations may receive additional restrictions on their driving time which will be decided by the SRO Sporting Board. A driver with a derogation may be awarded additional penalty weight of up to 40 kg, or a pit stop time penalty, to be determined by the Sporting Board, and to be carried from the first instance of the derogation. Any such penalties may be set or adjusted at any time during the Event, up to one hour before the start of the race.

Any driver derogations may be associated with maximum or minimum driving times. These will be specified in the confirmation document issued by the Sporting Board.

Except in cases of force majeure accepted by the Stewards, failing to abide by these limits will result in the removal of the derogation and may include other penalties up to and including disqualification from the Competition.

The above-mentioned criteria concerning the driver performance may be adjusted or other criteria added if deemed necessary by the SRO Sporting Board during the season.

10.4.6. Monitoring of Derogations

The performance of any drivers who have received a derogation will be monitored by the SRO Sporting Board. Derogations may be adjusted at any time without notice and will not be automatically renewed for subsequent Events.

In particular, should any driver's performance, calculated by the average of their ten best lap times in the race, be equal or superior to the average time of the top ten best drivers from the categorisation and category in which they have been racing, their derogation will be examined by the SRO Sporting Board. Additionally, the average performance of the drivers in the car compared to the average of other cars in the category will be used to decide on the continuation of any derogation.

The SRO Sporting Board may take any decision it considers appropriate concerning the continuation of the derogation, including a warning for a first infraction, a pit stop time penalty and/or additional restrictions on driving time.

10.4.7 Bronze* Drivers

The Bronze Cup is reserved for line-ups with a Bronze driver who is not a former professional driver (Gold or Platinum) unless they have proven in recent seasons to be racing at a standard Bronze level of performance. All line-ups must be assessed and approved in accordance with article 10.5.

10.5. Assessment of Eligibility of certain drivers and line-ups

10.5.1.

Certain drivers and line-ups will need to be assessed by the SRO Sporting Board before being accepted in the 2024 season. This includes:

  • Any drivers who have not competed in the previous two seasons of the Fanatec GT World Challenge powered by AWS or other SRO series must be assessed to determine their SRO categorisation.
  • Bronze Cup line-ups. All Bronze Cup line-ups must be assessed to determine whether they will be accepted

10.5.2.

The SRO Sporting Board will assess these drivers and line-ups, which must be sent by the Competitor via the validation form a minimum of two weeks before the Event in which they will first compete.

10.5.3.

Should the Competitor or the Driver disagree with the assessment, they may appeal to the Teams Committee which will consist of representatives from a number of long-serving teams and who will provide a final decision on any such assessments. (see Appendix 5)

10.6. Provisional Categorisation

Any drivers whose categorisation on the FIA official list is noted as Provisional or Under Review will be under additional supervision during the season and may be given additional weight or time penalties by the SRO Sporting Board should their performance prove to be out of line with their provisional category.