THE sun had barely set on the 2016 Bathurst 12 Hour race, won by the McLaren of Shane van Gisbergen, Alvaro Parente and Jonathon Webb on Sunday, when worldwide GT boss Stephane Ratel hinted that the race should introduce an all-professional class.
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Such a move would put the race in the same sphere as the other major worldwide GT3 enduro events.
Ratel founded the GT Series and was on hand at Mount Panorama on the weekend to witness the growing popularity of the Bathurst race.
The 12 Hour currently includes a rule which forces each team to field at least one unseeded or non-professional driver in their line-up, a regulation that has been in place for six editions of the race.
The other major endurance events don’t have such a rule, meaning they each contain a fully professional class.
The issue has been debated several times and classification changes regarding V8 Supercars drivers this year only made things more complex.
Ratel told racing website Speedcafe.com that a new category would take care of the problem.
“I would encourage it because to have a high profile event which depends on driver grading is a bit difficult,” Ratel said.
“There is a lot of tension in the pro-am class. This is only my opinion and we don’t interfere with the running of the event.”
The 12 Hour is a “beautiful event”, Patel said.
“It is professionally run and it has a good fan base, there are a lot of very enthusiastic people and I think it can grow.
“We couldn’t have dreamt of a better start for the Intercontinental GT Challenge Series and I hope this will be the first round for many years to come.”
There is support for the potential move among the teams that would be affected.
M-Sport Bentley chief Malcolm Wilson is particularly enthusiastic about the idea.
Having competed in 2015-16 after being forced to drop two regular drivers, he says it would be a most welcome development.
“If there is something a bit different about this race compared to others we do it’s that you’ve got to run one silver guy,” Wilson told Speedcafe.com.
“But in an ideal world we would run all of our six drivers.
“You’ve got to drop somebody from your team and it just makes it a little bit awkward.
“This is the only race where we have to do it. It’s a small thing, but if there was a negative that would be it.”
