Local teams key to Bathurst 12 Hour future, says Ratel

Ratel, whose SRO company runs the Intercontinental GT Challenge, says the focus should be on local teams for long-haul flyaway races such as Bathurst and Sepang.

Through that, he says, manufacturers can utilise local hardware and teams, and bring in drivers and engineers – which is a more cost-effective way to take part in races far outside of Europe.

“The idea with Intercontinental GT Challenge is really to make it a Manufacturer Trophy using all the local teams, so the Australian team at Bathurst, the Asian team at Sepang, the European team at Spa, and the American team in America,” he told Motorsport.com.

“That’s the beauty of GT3. It’s spread everywhere and teams are everywhere, and that is also more cost efficient to fly a driver and engineer [across the world] than a car and equipment.”

There were a number of overseas teams at this year’s Bathurst 12 Hour, including Phoenix from Germany, a NISMO crew from Japan, and Bentley Team M-Sport from the UK.

Impressed with manufacturer turnout

Given 2016 is the first year of the Intercontinental GT Challenge, Ratel says he’s been impressed with the take-up from manufacturers. And with the United States next in line for a participating race, he reckons it’s going to keep getting better.

“We are fully in the middle of [our global expansion],” he added. “We have this Intercontinental Challenge which should take one [race] on each continent to make it intercontinental.

“And I’m happy we already have four manufacturers that have entered this year; Audi, Bentley, Mercedes and McLaren.

“For first a first year it’s amazing, and we will reinforce it next year with a race in America. I think it will give it a special touch.”

Additional reporting by Tim Biesbrouck