This weekend win-proven Italian racing sports cars in the shape of the Ferrari F430, Lamborghini Gallardo and Maserati GranSport Light will all be in frenetic circuit action in Brazil as the FIA GT3 sports car class is for the first time racing in this populous Latin American nation, in a brand-new GT3 Championship which will be disputed simultaneously with the European FIA GT3 Championship on which it is closely based, and which runs under the very same rules. In fact the Brazilian teams are eligible to race in all stages of European GT3 series this year while the European teams could well participate in the Brazilian version.

SRO Motorsports Group is responsible for the development and the original concept of the GT3 class which has caught the imagination in Europe. Stephane Ratel, the SRO boss, holds the rights over the FIA GT1, FIA GT2, English F3 and for the GT3 Championship in Europe, and now over the new GT3 series in Latin America. SRO Latin America, has been newly created through an association between Ratel and two Brazilian businessmen and enthusiastic racing drivers, Walter Derani and Antonio Hermann. The pair already hold the rights over the traditional Brazilian Mil Milhas [1,000 Miles] race. Derani and Antonio Hermann have been handed responsibility for establishing the new structure for Latin America in partnership with SRO Motorsports Group. They will be in charge of the strategic planning, technical implementation, commercialisation and marketing, sportive and technical projects, and the production of the events.

They will build on the achievements of the FIA-sanctioned European GT3 Championship which has been an instant success. Created last year when the FIA GT Championship was split away from the FIA World Touring Car Championship (the two international series' had been billed together as part of the 'Super Racing Weekends' format) it offered 'gentlemen' sports car drivers the chance to race on top circuits around Europe at the wheel of a variety of machines that had even performance levels. This years series sees the format, of two 1-hour duration races run over five weekends, on tracks such as Silverstone and Monza, continue. Now this concept has been transferred to Brazil.

The inaugural Brazilian GT3 Championship will be disputed over five meetings starting this weekend at the high-speed, anti-clockwise, 1.87-mile long permanent circuit of Tarumã, located in the state of Rio Grande do Sul in the south of Brazil, and which was built in 1971. The next four races will be held at Curitiba, Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo (two rounds including Mil Milhas race). The technical rules are the same of European FIA GT3 Championship. The cars are made equal, using Porsche 997 GT3 as the base model. There will be always two pilots interchanging the driving, one less and the other more experienced, and two races of one hour each.
 

On Thursday and then yesterday (Friday) two free practices sessions were disputed at Tarumã as the field of sports cars, which includes the Lamborghini Gallardo, Ferrari F430 and Maserati GranSport Light, took to the track. In the first practice session the Ferrari F430 driven by Walter Derani posted the fastest time. In the afternoon practice runs it was the turn of the Lamborghini Gallardo GT3, steered by the pilot Alceu Feldmann, to be the number one. Today the teams will take part in two further free practice sessions ahead of the final qualifying runs, while the two races will take place tomorrow (Sunday).

Brazilian GT3 Championship Rd 1, Tarumã - Free Practice 1: 1)  Walter Derani/Cláudio Ricci  (Ferrari F430, SP/RS), 1min03s181; 2)  Xandy Negrão/Andréas Maththeis  (Dodge Viper Coupé, SP/RJ), + 0s876; 3)  Renato Cattalini/Luiz Paternostro  (Ferrari F430, PR/SP), + 0s944; 4)  Rafael Derani/Alencar Jr  (Ferrari F430, SP/GO), + 1s238; 5)  Amílcar Collares/Fábio Casagrande  (Dodge Viper Coupé, SP/SP), + 1s442; 6)  Paulo Bonifacio/Alceu Feldmann  (Lamborghini Gallardo, SP/PR), + 1s588; 7)  Antonio Hermann/Lico Kaesemodel  (Porsche 997 GT3, SP/PR), + 1s596; 8)  Francisco Longo/Daniel Serra  (Maserati GranSport, SP/SP), + 1s810; 9)  Abramo Mazzochi/Ramon Matias  (Dodge Viper Coupé, RS/RS), + 1s926; 10)  Sérgio Laganá/M.Fernandes  (Dodge Viper Coupé, PR/RS), a 2s602; 11)  Carlos Crespo/Roberto Moreno  (Ferrari F430, SP/SP), + 4s974; 12)  Eduardo Souza Ramos/Leonardo Almeida  (Porsche 997 GT3, SP/SP), + 5s111; Walter Derani/Cláudio Ricci (Ferrari F430) average speed: 171,84 km/h.

Brazilian GT3 Championship Rd 1, Tarumã - Free Practice 1: 1)  Paulo Bonifácio/Alceu Feldman (Lamborghini Gallardo, SP/PR), 1min02s993; 2)  Xandy Negrão/Andréas Maththeis  (Dodge Viper Coupé, SP/RJ), + 0s251; 3)  Walter Derani/Cláudio Ricci  (Ferrari F430, SP/RS), + 0s899; 4)  Abramo Mazzochi/Ramon Matias  (Dodge Viper Coupé, RS/RS), + 1s578; 5)  F.Longo/D.Serra  (Maserati GranSport Light, SP/SP), + 2s017; 6)  A.Hermann/L.Kaesemodel  (Porsche 997 GT3, SP/PR), + 2s174; 7)  C.Crespo/R.Pupo Moreno  (Ferrari F430, SP/SP), + 2s419; 8)  A.Collares/F.Casagrande  (Dodge Viper Coupé, SP/SP), + 2s529; 9)  R.Derani/Alencar Jr  (Ferrari F430, SP/GO), + 2s593; 10)  S.Laganá/M.Fernandes (Dodge Viper Coupé, PR/RS), + 2s955; 11)  R.Cattalini/Paternostro  (Ferrari F430, PR/SP), + 3s007 12)  E.Souza Ramos/L.Almeida  (Porsche 997 GT3, SP/SP), + 4s055; Paulo Bonifácio/Alceu Feldmann (Lamborghini Gallardo) average speed: 179,73 km/h.