Page 27 - Cool Britannia

27APRILBlancpain GT series kicks your motorsport season off to a luxury start so head down to Missano or Monza for some Easter Italian sunshine, good pasta, wine and of course the Blancpain GT series created by world-renowned Swiss watch manufacture Blancpain and the SRO Motorsports Group. The series was extended in late 2013 to include the Sprint series, previously promoted as the FIA GT Series, offering teams and drivers the opportunity to compete for an overall Blancpain GT Series title and linking sprint with endurance. The Blancpain GT Series runs over 10 events with 5 endurance cup and 5 sprint cup races. The objective of the Blancpain GT Series Endurance Cup, fve events centred on the Total 24 Hours of Spa, (see July) is to take GT3 cars into endurance racing formats of three hours with two mandatory pit stops. The Blancpain GT Series is mainly reserved for GT3 cars, applying the principles of Balance of Performance and a driver categorisation system successfully developed by SRO Motorsports Group. Make the most of the Autumn sunshine in this fabulous city and take in one of the best sports cars series in Europe. FIA World RallyX is the closest thing to hand to hand combat on 4 wheels, no motorsport fan should miss at least one round of the FIA World Rallycross Championship, it kicks off in Catalunya and then Portugal in April and trundles around Europe before getting to the UK in May where you get to visit the delights of the Kent Countryside at Lydden Hill for probably the best value racing anywhere, especially to see some of the well know names past and present in the sport bashing wing-mirrors in their fre breathing machines. You may well fancy some spring sunshine and there is no better place to visit than Marrakech so why not suck in a round of the FIA World Touring Car Championship (WTCC) the well organised promoter has now transformed the original street circuit to semi-permanent race track, Circuit Moulay El Hassan is located in the heart of Marrakech’s bustling hotel district. Built to FIA Grade II standards, the layout is the work of Hermann Tilke’s renowned architecture agency and offers impressive views of the Atlas Mountains and Marrakech city wall. But with a compact lap of 2.971 kilometres (down from its original 4.545 kilometres) and a sprinkling of tight, wall-lined turns, there’s no time for WTCC drivers to take in the scenery. Restored to season-opening status after two years, home hero Mehdi Bennani attracts a fervent following mixed in with some wise old campaigners from around the World and a few rookies carving their name. A really different way to experience motorsport, coupled with a magical city, cool bars great food – hard to think of a better way to spend a weekend.