2011 FIA GT1 World Championship

The 2011 FIA GT1 World Championship season was the second season of the SRO Group's FIA GT1 World Championship, an auto racing series for grand tourer cars complying with Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA) GT1 regulations. The championship comprised two titles: GT1 World Champion for Drivers and GT1 World Champion for Teams.^[1] Five of the six manufacturers represented in the 2010 championship returned for the second season, however Maserati was not represented and 2010 Teams World Champions Vitaphone Racing Team did not defend their title.^[2]

The season commenced at the Yas Marina Circuit in Abu Dhabi on 25–26 March and ended at the Potrero de los Funes Circuit in Argentina on 4–6 November. The ten event season included an inaugural race at the Ordos International Circuit in China. Germans Lucas Luhr and Michael Krumm of the JR Motorsports team won the World Drivers' Championship after earning four race victories, while Hexis AMR won the Teams' Championship.

A ten-event calendar was announced at the FIA World Motor Sport Council meeting on 10 December 2010.^[3] The Ordos International Circuit of China gave the series a fourth event outside Europe, replacing the former Czech round at Brno. Several national events were moved to new circuits; Zolder replaced Spa-Francorchamps in Belgium and the Sachsenring replaced the Nürburgring in Germany.

The Autódromo Internacional de Curitiba was originally planned as a Brazilian round for the championship, but was cancelled mid-season. At the behest of the SRO Group, the FIA approved a replacement event at the Goldenport Park Circuit as a second Chinese round for the series, scheduled a week after the Ordos event.^[4][5] A day after the Goldenport round, the Beijing GT1 World Supercars exhibition event was held in the Olympic Green in Beijing and featured a short street race.^[6]

Event	Circuit	Date
1	Yas Marina Circuit, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates	26 March
2	Circuit Zolder, Belgium	10 April
3	Autódromo Internacional do Algarve, Portimão, Portugal	8 May
4	Sachsenring, Saxony, Germany	15 May
5	Silverstone Circuit, United Kingdom	5 June
6	Circuito de Navarra, Los Arcos, Spain	3 July
7	Circuit Paul Ricard, Le Castellet, France	17 July
8	Ordos International Circuit, Ordos City, China	4 September
9	Goldenport Park Circuit, Beijing, China	10 September
10	Potrero de los Funes Circuit, San Luis, Argentina	6 November

2011 was the final season in which the Maserati MC12 GT1, Corvette C6.R, and Aston Martin DBR9 were eligible for the championship. The three were running under a two-year waiver to meet homologation requirements. In June 2010, Aurora Racing Designs announced plans to develop a GT1 car based on the BMW Alpina B6, based on the existing B6 GT3 which races under FIA GT3 regulations.^[7][8] This project did not however come to fruition and no additional companies joined the six approved manufacturers. All of the Maserati teams decided to sit out for the last approved season, leaving the championship with five active manufacturers.

In February 2011 the SRO Group announced that 18 entries had been received for the 2011 season, but that the deadline for entries had been extended in order to allow possible negotiation for further teams. Aston Martin, Ford, Nissan, and Lamborghini were all confirmed as having two teams entered, while a fifth manufacturer was seeking the required second team necessary for entry.^[9] In March the FIA announced an entry of 20 cars, with Corvette joining the other four manufacturers.^[2]

Several of the twelve teams which competed in 2010 announced their intentions not to return for 2011. This included Matech Competition, who was moving to concentrate on development of the Ford GT for other racing series.^[10] Hegersport and Phoenix Racing also announced they would not be involved in FIA GT1 in 2011,^[9] while Reiter's Lamborghinis had been sold. Defending GT1 World Champions Vitaphone Racing Team had moved to the new Blancpain Endurance Series.^[11]

Returning teams for 2011 included Sumo Power GT, Münnich Motorsport, Marc VDS Racing Team, Hexis AMR, and Young Driver AMR.^[9] Swiss Racing Team also returned, but opted for Lamborghinis instead of their 2010 Nissans.^[12] JR Motorsports, a partner of Sumo Power, took over the second Nissan squad,^[13] while Marc VDS sister team Belgian Racing shared representation of Ford.^[14] The Mad-Croc Racing partnership of 2010 was divided for 2011, with DKR Engineering forming their own Corvette squad, while Selleslagh Racing Team raced under the guise of Exim Bank Team China. Both teams were ineligible for the Teams Championship as neither had secured a second car for the start of the season.^[15][16] No teams announced plans to campaign the Maserati MC12, ending seven straight seasons of competition in GT1.

During the season the Swiss Racing Team withdrew from three consecutive rounds following racing incidents at Sachsenring which damaged their two Lamborghinis, citing a lack of spare parts to repair their cars in time.^[17] Prior to the Ordos round, Swiss Racing Team's Lamborghinis were transferred to Münnich Motorsport. At the same time, DKR Engineering merged their outfit with Exim Bank Team China, giving Team China their first two-car entries of the season. Münnich then took over DKR's former entry under the new title of DKR www-discount.de allowing the series to maintain an 18-car field.^[18]

On 18 March 2011 the FIA published an entry list of teams and manufacturers for the full 2011 season.^[2] All teams used Michelin tyres.^[19]

Team	Car	Engine	No.	Drivers	Events
Hexis AMR	Aston Martin DBR9	Aston Martin 6.0 L V12	3	Clivio Piccione[20]	All
				Stef Dusseldorp[20]	All
			4	Christian Hohenadel[20]	All
				Andrea Piccini[20]	All
Swiss Racing Team	Lamborghini Murciélago LP 670 R-SV	Lamborghini 6.5 L V12	5	Karl Wendlinger[21]	1–4
				Peter Kox[22]	1–4
			6	Max Nilsson[23]	1–4
				Jiří Janák[24]	1–4
Young Driver AMR	Aston Martin DBR9	Aston Martin 6.0 L V12	7	Tomáš Enge[25]	All
				Alex Müller[25]	All
			8	Darren Turner[25]	All
				Stefan Mücke[25]	All
Belgian Racing	Matech Ford GT1	Ford Cammer 5.3 L V8	9	Antoine Leclerc[26]	1
				Fabien Giroix[27]	1
				Vanina Ickx[28]	2–7
				Mathias Beche[29]	2
				Christoffer Nygaard[30]	3–10
				Jonathan Hirschi[31]	8–10
			10	Martin Matzke[32]	1–3
				Miloš Pavlović[33]	1–2
				Antoine Leclerc[30]	3–10
				Yann Clairay[34]	4, 6–9
				Markus Palttala[35]	5, 10
Exim Bank Team China	Corvette C6.R	Corvette LS7.R 7.0 L V8	11	Mike Hezemans[36]	1–7
				Nick Catsburg[36]	1–4
				Andreas Zuber[37]	5, 7
				Nico Verdonck[38]	6
				Ho-Pin Tung[31]	8–9
				Jeroen den Boer[31]	8–9
				Yelmer Buurman[39]	10
				Francesco Pastorelli[39]	10
			12	Michaël Rossi[31]	8–10
				Sérgio Jimenez[31]	8
				Nico Verdonck[40]	9–10
Sumo Power GT	Nissan GT-R GT1	Nissan VK56DE 5.6 L V8	20	Enrique Bernoldi[41]	All
				Ricardo Zonta[41]	1–3
				Warren Hughes[42]	4–5
				Nick Catsburg[43]	6–10
			21	David Brabham[44]	All
				Jamie Campbell-Walter[44]	All
JR Motorsports	Nissan GT-R GT1	Nissan VK56DE 5.6 L V8	22	Peter Dumbreck[41]	All
				Richard Westbrook[41]	All
			23	Michael Krumm[41]	All
				Lucas Luhr[41]	All
All-Inkl.com Münnich Motorsport	Lamborghini Murciélago LP 670 R-SV	Lamborghini 6.5 L V12	37	Dominik Schwager[45]	All
				Nicky Pastorelli[45]	All
			38	Marc Basseng[45]	All
				Markus Winkelhock[45]	All
Marc VDS Racing Team	Matech Ford GT1	Ford Cammer 5.3 L V8	40	Bas Leinders[46]	All
				Marc Hennerici[46]	1–9
				Ricardo Risatti[47]	10
			41	Maxime Martin[46]	All
				Frédéric Makowiecki[46]	1–2, 4–5, 7–8
				Yann Clairay[48]	3, 10
				Bertrand Baguette[49]	6, 9
DKR Engineering DKR www-discount.de	Corvette C6.R	Corvette LS7.R 7.0 L V8	47
				Michaël Rossi[33]	1–3, 5–7
				Jaime Camara[33]	1–2
				Matteo Bobbi[50]	3
				Dimitri Enjalbert[51]	5–7
	Lamborghini Murciélago LP 670 R-SV	Lamborghini 6.5 L V12		Benjamin Leuenberger[31]	8–9
				Manuel Lauck[31]	8–10
				Christopher Haase[39]	10
			48	Jonathan Kennard[31]	8–10
				Christopher Brück[31]	8–10

Following the 2010 season, three major changes were made to the GT1 regulations. Teams would now have six sets of tyres made available to them at each event, increased from the previous limit of four. Starting with the second event of the season, two of the tyres would be previously used sets from the previous event in the season, available throughout the weekend. Two fresh sets were given to the teams at the start of the first practice session, while the final two fresh sets were available prior to the warm-up session.

Two of the regulation changes involved the allocation of championship points in the qualifying race, with points now awarded to the top six finishers instead of only the top three. Further, the winner of the qualifying race would earn 10 kg (22 lb) of success ballast for the next event in the championship, while second place was given 5 kg (11 lb). The ninth-place finisher in the qualifying race would lose 5 kg of success ballast, while any car finishing tenth or lower had 10 kg removed. Finally, the success ballast for the winner of the championship race was lowered from 40 kg (88 lb) to 30 kg (66 lb).^[11]

Event	Circuit	Qualifying race winner	Championship race winner	Report
1	Abu Dhabi	No. 41 Marc VDS Racing Team	No. 3 Hexis AMR	Report
		Maxime Martin Frédéric Makowiecki	Clivio Piccione Stef Dusseldorp
2	Zolder	No. 38 All-Inkl.com Münnich Motorsport	No. 38 All-Inkl.com Münnich Motorsport	Report
		Marc Basseng Markus Winkelhock	Marc Basseng Markus Winkelhock
3	Algarve	No. 22 JR Motorsports	No. 23 JR Motorsports	Report
		Peter Dumbreck Richard Westbrook	Lucas Luhr Michael Krumm
4	Sachsenring	No. 41 Marc VDS Racing Team	No. 4 Hexis AMR	Report
		Maxime Martin Frédéric Makowiecki	Christian Hohenadel Andrea Piccini
5	Silverstone	No. 7 Young Driver AMR	No. 23 JR Motorsports	Report
		Tomáš Enge Alex Müller	Lucas Luhr Michael Krumm
6	Navarra	No. 38 All-Inkl.com Münnich Motorsport	No. 37 All-Inkl.com Münnich Motorsport	Report
		Marc Basseng Markus Winkelhock	Nicky Pastorelli Dominik Schwager
7	Paul Ricard	No. 23 JR Motorsports	No. 23 JR Motorsports	Report
		Lucas Luhr Michael Krumm	Lucas Luhr Michael Krumm
8	Ordos	No. 41 Marc VDS Racing Team	No. 41 Marc VDS Racing Team	Report
		Maxime Martin Frédéric Makowiecki	Maxime Martin Frédéric Makowiecki
9	Beijing	No. 7 Young Driver AMR	No. 8 Young Driver AMR	Report
		Tomáš Enge Alex Müller	Darren Turner Stefan Mücke
10	San Luis	No. 11 Exim Bank Team China	No. 11 Exim Bank Team China	Report
		Yelmer Buurman Francesco Pastorelli	Yelmer Buurman Francesco Pastorelli

Championship points were awarded for the first six positions in each qualifying race and for the first ten positions in each championship race. Entries were required to complete 75% of the winning car's race distance in order to be classified and earn points. Individual drivers were required to participate for a minimum of 25 minutes in order to earn championship points in any race.

Pos [52] Driver [52] Team ABU ZOL ALG SAC SIL NAV PRI ORD BEI SAN Total [52] QR CR QR CR QR CR QR CR QR CR QR CR QR CR QR CR QR CR QR CR 1 Michael Krumm Lucas Luhr JR Motorsports 3 14 7 9 2 1 11 9 2 1 9 6 1 1 11 9 4 3 2 Ret 137 2 Darren Turner Stefan Mücke Young Driver AMR Ret 5 Ret 7 4 2 3 3 Ret Ret 6 Ret 3 2 7 5 2 1 DNS DNS 120 3 Christian Hohenadel Andrea Piccini Hexis AMR 9 4 10 2 11 8 5 1 10 Ret 5 5 6 5 8 4 3 10 14 5 111 4 Tomáš Enge Alex Müller Young Driver AMR Ret 6 3 3 Ret Ret 10 Ret 1 2 Ret 13 2 3 16 14 1 2 5 10 103 5 Marc Basseng Markus Winkelhock All-Inkl.com Münnich Motorsport 6 3 1 1 7 6 9 Ret Ret 5 1 2 7 8 EX 8 12 Ret 6 Ret 102 6 Maxime Martin Marc VDS Racing Team 1 8 5 8 6 Ret 1 Ret NC Ret 3 4 5 6 1 1 Ret 4 15 11 98 7 Clivio Piccione Stef Dusseldorp Hexis AMR 5 1 6 6 13 Ret 2 11 5 4 10 8 Ret 11 4 3 5 Ret 8 3 95 8 Nicky Pastorelli Dominik Schwager All-Inkl.com Münnich Motorsport Ret 11 Ret Ret 5 4 7 2 6 10 2 1 Ret 9 6 6 9 Ret 3 Ret 80 9 Peter Dumbreck Richard Westbrook JR Motorsports 2 2 Ret Ret 1 12 6 7 Ret Ret 7 9 4 Ret 2 2 7 7 NC 8 78 10 David Brabham Jamie Campbell-Walter Sumo Power GT 8 9 11 Ret 3 3 8 5 Ret Ret 4 3 9 4 3 7 11 8 7 Ret 75 11 Frédéric Makowiecki Marc VDS Racing Team 1 8 5 8 1 Ret NC Ret 5 6 1 1 69 12 Enrique Bernoldi Sumo Power GT 4 Ret 12 Ret 8 7 4 4 4 7 Ret 12 10 7 5 Ret 10 6 4 4 64 13 Nick Catsburg Exim Bank Team China 7 10 2 5 9 9 Ret 6 58 Sumo Power GT Ret 12 10 7 5 Ret 10 6 4 4 14 Mike Hezemans Exim Bank Team China 7 10 2 5 9 9 Ret 6 3 3 Ret Ret Ret Ret 46 15 Yelmer Buurman Francesco Pastorelli 1 1 33 16 Karl Wendlinger Peter Kox Swiss Racing Team 10 7 4 4 10 5 12 Ret 31 17 Bertrand Baguette Marc VDS Racing Team 3 4 Ret 4 28 18 Warren Hughes Sumo Power GT 4 4 4 7 24 19 Manuel Lauck DKR Engineering 12 15 13 9 9 2 20 20 Andreas Zuber Exim Bank Team China 3 3 Ret Ret 19 21= Christopher Haase DKR Engineering 9 2 18 21= Bas Leinders Marc VDS Racing Team 11 DNS Ret 10 Ret 10 Ret 8 11 6 12 10 Ret 12 10 10 Ret Ret Ret 9 18 22 Michaël Rossi DKR Engineering Ret 13 9 Ret 15 Ret 9 Ret 8 7 8 10 17 Exim Bank Team China 15 16 8 5 11 Ret 23 Marc Hennerici Marc VDS Racing Team 11 DNS Ret 10 Ret 10 Ret 8 11 6 12 10 Ret 12 10 10 Ret Ret 16 24 Antoine Leclerc Belgian Racing 14 Ret 16 Ret 13 10 8 8 Ret Ret Ret Ret 13 11 Ret Ret 10 6 13 25 Markus Palttala 8 8 10 6 12 26 Nico Verdonck Exim Bank Team China Ret Ret 8 5 11 Ret 10 27= Ricardo Zonta Sumo Power GT 4 Ret 12 Ret 8 7 9 27= Christoffer Nygaard Belgian Racing 14 11 Ret Ret 7 9 11 11 Ret 13 9 Ret 6 Ret 12 7 9 28= Jonathan Hirschi 9 Ret 6 Ret 12 7 7 28= Dimitri Enjalbert DKR Engineering 9 Ret 8 7 8 10 7 29= Yann Clairay Marc VDS Racing Team 6 Ret 15 11 2 Belgian Racing 13 10 Ret Ret Ret Ret 13 11 Ret Ret 29= Vanina Ickx Belgian Racing Ret Ret 14 11 Ret Ret 7 9 11 11 Ret 13 2 29= Benjamin Leuenberger DKR Engineering 12 15 13 9 2 29= Ricardo Risatti Marc VDS Racing Team Ret 9 2 NC Max Nilsson Jiří Janák Swiss Racing Team 13 Ret 8 DNS 12 Ret Ret Ret 0 NC Jaime Camara DKR Engineering Ret 13 9 Ret 0 NC Martin Matzke Belgian Racing 12 12 Ret 11 16 Ret 0 NC Miloš Pavlović 12 12 Ret 11 0 NC Ho-Pin Tung Jeroen den Boer Exim Bank Team China Ret 12 14 11 0 NC Jonathan Kennard Christopher Brück DKR Engineering 14 13 Ret Ret 13 Ret 0 NC Fabien Giroix Belgian Racing 14 Ret 0 NC Sérgio Jimenez Exim Bank Team China 15 16 0 NC Matteo Bobbi DKR Engineering 15 Ret 0 NC Mathias Beche Belgian Racing Ret Ret 0

Key Colour Result Gold Race winner Silver 2nd place Bronze 3rd place Green Points finish Blue Non-points finish Non-classified finish (NC) Purple Did not finish (Ret) Black Disqualified (DSQ) Excluded (EX) White Did not start (DNS) Race cancelled (C) Withdrew (WD) Blank Did not participate

Pos [52] Team [52] Manufacturer Car ABU ZOL ALG SAC SIL NAV PRI ORD BEI SAN Total [52] QR CR QR CR QR CR QR CR QR CR QR CR QR CR QR CR QR CR QR CR 1 Hexis AMR Aston Martin 3 5 1 6 6 13 Ret 2 11 5 4 10 8 Ret 11 4 3 5 Ret 8 3 235 4 9 4 10 2 11 8 5 1 10 Ret 5 5 6 5 8 4 3 10 14 5 2 JR Motorsports Nissan 22 2 2 Ret Ret 1 12 6 7 Ret Ret 7 9 4 Ret 2 2 7 7 NC 8 232 23 3 14 7 9 2 1 11 9 2 1 9 6 1 1 11 9 4 3 2 Ret 3 Young Driver AMR Aston Martin 7 Ret 6 3 3 Ret Ret 10 Ret 1 2 Ret 13 2 3 16 14 1 2 5 10 231 8 Ret 5 Ret 7 4 2 3 3 Ret Ret 6 Ret 3 2 7 5 2 1 DNS DNS 4 All-Inkl.com Münnich Motorsport Lamborghini 37 Ret 11 Ret Ret 5 4 7 2 6 10 2 1 Ret 9 6 6 9 Ret 3 Ret 190 38 6 3 1 1 7 6 9 Ret Ret 5 1 2 7 8 EX 8 12 Ret 6 Ret 5 Sumo Power GT Nissan 20 4 Ret 12 Ret 8 7 4 4 4 7 Ret 12 10 7 5 Ret 10 6 4 4 154 21 8 9 11 Ret 3 3 8 5 Ret Ret 4 3 9 4 3 7 11 8 7 Ret 6 Marc VDS Racing Team Ford 40 11 DNS Ret 10 Ret 10 Ret 8 11 6 12 10 Ret 12 10 10 Ret Ret Ret 9 132 41 1 8 5 8 6 Ret 1 Ret NC Ret 3 4 5 6 1 1 Ret 4 15 11 7 Belgian Racing Ford 9 14 Ret Ret Ret 14 11 Ret Ret 7 9 11 11 Ret 13 9 Ret 6 Ret 12 7 39 10 12 12 Ret 11 16 Ret 13 10 8 8 Ret Ret Ret Ret 13 11 Ret Ret 10 6 8 Swiss Racing Team Lamborghini 5 10 7 4 4 10 5 12 Ret 32 6 13 Ret 8 DNS 12 Ret Ret Ret

Key Colour Result Gold Race winner Silver 2nd place Bronze 3rd place Green Points finish Blue Non-points finish Non-classified finish (NC) Purple Did not finish (Ret) Black Disqualified (DSQ) Excluded (EX) White Did not start (DNS) Race cancelled (C) Withdrew (WD) Blank Did not participate

The Exim Bank Team China and DKR Engineering teams were deemed ineligible for the Teams' Championship after failing to provide two cars each for the full season as required by series regulations.^[53][54]

• FIA GT1 World Championship