The championship grew out of the BPR Global GT Series. In 1997, growing manufacturer interest from Mercedes-Benz, Porsche, and Panoz prompted the FIA to absorb the expanding BPR series. The FIA standardised race distances at 500 km, liberalised technical regulations, and left commercial exploitation with SRO founder Stéphane Ratel, who secured television coverage from the pan-European broadcaster Eurosport. Manufacturers responded by building "homologation specials" — quasi-prototype cars produced in minimum runs of 25 — to exploit the new rules. Chrysler, Lister, and Marcos, unwilling to absorb escalating costs, retreated to the GT2 class.
Mercedes-Benz completely dominated the GT1 class in the championship's first season, causing other manufacturers to withdraw after 1998. That left the Chrysler Viper as the dominant car in the series, with the aging Porsche 993 GT2 and the Lister Storm providing limited competition.
The absence of an affordable category for amateur drivers led to the creation of the N-GT class in 2000. The new category attracted large numbers of Porsche and Ferrari entries, and lower running costs kept both classes well-subscribed. To elevate the championship's profile, the SRO added the 24 Hours of Spa — previously a touring car race — to the calendar, where it became the series' most important event. The FIA banned official manufacturer involvement, though certain teams received preferential treatment; Porsche established a "round robin" support system under this arrangement.
For the 2006 season the FIA introduced a GT3 class, positioned closer to production-car specification and balanced via weight, restrictors, and tyre pressures. Manufacturers participating in the associated FIA GT3 European Championship support series included Aston Martin, Chevrolet, Dodge, Lamborghini, Ascari, and Maserati.
After the FIA renamed the main classes GT1 and GT2 at the end of 2004 and somewhat liberalised GT1 regulations to allow supercars, the purpose-built Maserati MC12 emerged as the largest beneficiary. The car's performance prompted the FIA to impose specific aerodynamic limitations on it. Despite this, a weight-penalty equalisation system kept championship fights competitive, with gentleman drivers regularly challenging professionals — some of whom had Formula One experience.
All races in the FIA GT Championship were of endurance type, with a minimum distance of 500 km or a maximum duration of three hours. Exceptions included the Spa 24 Hours, an Istanbul two-hour event, and the exhibition Mil Milhas Brasileiras. From the 2007 season the format shifted toward sprint events with a maximum duration of two hours for most rounds, retaining the Spa 24 Hours as the sole long-distance exception.
Following the 2009 season, the SRO announced a split of the GT1 and GT2 categories into separate championships. The GT1 class became a global world championship; the ACO simultaneously barred GT1-class cars from the Le Mans Series and all associated events, confining them to the new FIA GT1 World Championship. A small number of GT1 entries appeared in the LMGT1 class at the 2010 24 Hours of Le Mans.
The GT1 World Championship ran in 2010 and 2011, then switched entirely to GT3 machinery in 2012 as car counts shrank and no manufacturers were willing to build new GT1-specification cars. The San Luis round of the 2011 season was the final international competition for GT1-class cars. The 2012 series was cancelled after its conclusion and replaced by the FIA GT Series.
The GT2 class was planned to continue as a separate European championship in 2010, but that series was cancelled; a lone GT2 event at the 2010 Spa 24 Hours produced an FIA GT2 European Cup winner, marking the last SRO-sanctioned GT2-spec race. The Blancpain Endurance Series announced for 2011 revived elements of the endurance format, but operated only with GT3, GT4, and Supersports machinery and was not an FIA-sanctioned championship.
At the close of the 2009 season, Vitaphone Racing Team had won five consecutive GT1 Teams' Championships, while AF Corse had taken four consecutive GT2 Teams' titles. Michael Bartels and Andrea Bertolini, both driving for Vitaphone, each claimed their third Drivers' Championship title across the preceding four seasons. Richard Westbrook of Prospeed Competition won the GT2 Drivers' Championship. Chris Niarchos won the Citation Cup, and Ferrari won the returning Manufacturers' Championship in the GT2 category.
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