The Masters GT Trophy for 2023
The Masters Team are excited to announce a new addition to our ensemble of historic grids for drivers to enjoy in the 2023 season! As a baby brother to the successful Masters Endurance Legends series, the Masters GT Trophy will enable GT4 and one-make Cup, Trophy and Challenge cars from the 2007-18 timeframe to join into Masters Historic Racing events for 2023. The new series will give drivers and teams an exciting opportunity to enjoy a six-round calendar that includes three events in the UK and three on mainland Europe!
Requested by Drivers
Our drivers asked for a series that would cater for these ‘modern-historic’ GT cars, and we listened! The Masters Team also wanted to explore opportunities to extend its driver profile and welcome new faces into the Masters Paddock. The idea of an additional later-GT series was spawned and the one-off Masters GT4 Trophy at this year’s Classic 2022, run in association with SRO Motorsports, was launched to test the water. The great response from the two races at Silverstone led to an influx of interest from existing competitors as well as new teams and drivers, cementing the decision to push through with plans to cater for a grid of GT4 cars outside the current homologation as well as opening-up the series into one-make Cup, Challenge and Trophy cars that over the years have appeared in various one-make manufacturer series – an exciting racing opportunity for all!
New Series Details
The Masters GT Trophy will take its proud place as the sixth grid in our Masters 2023 UK & European Tour! The new series will be based on a class structure split into three different year groups (2007-11, 2012-14 and 2015-18); and then further into three classes (Corse, Cup and GT4). One qualifying session followed by two races during the weekend of varying durations will be trialled during the 2023 season. For this first season, races will be run nationally to negate the need for international race licences and enable us to gauge interest in the grid in the different countries we will travel to.
Which Cars are Eligible?
- GT4 Class: The GT4 Class welcomes the whole range of GT4 cars from the category’s inception in 2007, such as the Aston Martin V8 Vantage GT4, BMW’s M3 & M4 GT4, the Audi R8 LMS GT4, the Corvette C6 GT4, the Ford Mustang GT4, Ginetta’s G50 & G55, the KTM X-Bow, the Lotus Evora, the Maserati GranTurismo MC GT4, the Mercedes AMG GT4, the McLaren 570 GT4, Nissan’s 350Z & 370Z, 718 Cayman GT4 Clubsport Competition and many more.
- Corse Class: Eligible cars for the Corse Class include Ferrari’s 430 & 458 Challenge, the Lamborghini Gallardo LP 570-4 Super Trofeo Stradale and Huracán LP 620-2 Super Trofeo.
- Cup Class: The Cup Class is predominantly intended for Porsche Cup cars, including the 997, 997.1, 991 and 991.2 iterations of the 911 GT3 Cup.
The 2023 Calendar for the Masters GT Trophy
The Masters Team have planned a six-round race calendar in 2023 with three UK rounds and three in Europe for our drivers to enjoy! The season will kick off with two exciting British events at Donington (7/8 April) and, Brands Hatch (27/28 May) before venturing to Zandvoort (June 16/18) and then hopping back across the pond for Silverstone (25/27 August). The last two rounds will finish off on the European continent with the magnificent Spa (27 September/1 October) and Portimão (27/29 October).
Further details HERE
All photos © Masters Historic Racing
