SEASON #2023: A THIRD TITLE OF FRENCH CHAMPION ON THE LINE!
A third title of French champion on the line!
The French Championship Historique des Circuits (the Historic Tour) is preparing its development: in 2023, it will no longer be divided into two, but three separate rankings and as many French champion titles to be awarded. For its part, the calendar will return to a format in five dates with meetings scheduled in Dijon, Albi, Charade, Magny-Cours and the Val de Vienne
It is now official, the French Historic Circuit Championship will benefit from a major evolution next year. In order to further broaden the hearing and improve fairness, its settlement will enshrine the creation of three rankings instead of the two that have been in effect since the 2015 opening season.
Concretely, if the «Monoplaces/Protos» classification remains unchanged, the «GT/Tourism» classification will be split in two and will disappear in favour of «GT/Tourisme Pré 1990» and «GT/Tourisme Post 1990» categories.
«Last year, nearly 250 drivers were classified in this GT/Tourism category covering all periods from 1950 to 1997 and showing some disparities between the number of entries in the various trophies and challenges concerned», stresses Laurent Vallery-Masson (HVM Racing), the promoter of the French Championship. "The fact of splitting it in two will allow a distribution between the oldest cars corresponding to the reference period of the PTH (pre-1990), which we want to promote, and the most recent ones in respect of automobile history. In a more global way, it will also rebalance everyone’s chances with a number of drivers ranked close to 120 in the three championships».
On the calendar side, the 2023 version returns to a five-round format and will once again offer drivers the pleasure of finding circuits that are closely linked to the success of the Historic Tour. The Dijon Prenois circuit will kick off in early May, while the Val de Vienne circuit will host the epilogue in October. Meanwhile, the second stage will take place on the Albi circuit, which HVM Racing is keen to support. Nogaro’s has agreed to erase himself from the calendar for his benefit, knowing that he will be safely included in 2024.
2023 SEASON: WHAT TO REMEMBER
Three French Championships
Category A : Single-seaters/Protos (unchanged)
Category B : GT/Touring Pre 1990
Category C : GT/Touring Post 1990
For these last two categories, the grids will be distributed according to the year of homologation of the most recent eligible model of each trophy or grid (e.g.: the Saloon Car Trophy accepts cars from the 70's but also up to 1997, so it is the latter date that is retained). As an example, according to the platforms of the 2022 championship, this would give the following distribution which may change according to the new list of platforms of the 2023 championship:
GT/Touring Pre 90 : Racing 65, Racing 81, Maxi 1300 Series and Lotus Trophy
GT/Touring Post 90 : GT Classic, Saloon Car, Roadster Pro Cup, Youngtimers GTI Cup
A calendar in five rounds (*)
- May 5 to 7 : Historic Tour Dijon
- May 26 to 28 : Historic Tour d'Albi
- June 16 to 18 : Historic Tour Charade
- September 30 to October 1: Historic Tour Magny-Cours
- October 20 to 22: Historic Tour Val de Vienne
(*) Subject to validation by the FFSA Board of Directors)
Media contact: Jacques FURET / presse@hvmracing.fr
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