Formats revealed for 2024 Monochrome GT4 Australia season

Race formats and category management details have been revealed for the inaugural standalone season of Monochrome GT4 Australia.

The series has flourished this year while running with the Australian Production Cars (APC) field under the leadership of Karl Begg and Troy Williams, and will now be integrated into the SRO Motorsports Australia operation to create a fully-aligned GT4 platform in Australia.

It has now also been announced that the season will be comprised of a mixture of sprint and endurance races, as one of the lead categories on the Shannons SpeedSeries bill.

A non-points round at Sandown has been added at the front end of the campaign, where a three-hour, two-driver race will be held.

That will be followed by a pair of 60-minute sprints at both Phillip Island and The Bend, then four-hour races at Queensland Raceway and a to-be-announced venue.

The final two rounds of the season, at Sydney Motorsport Park and the Supercheap Auto Bathurst International, will be run to the two-race sprint format.

The Monochrome GT4 Australia Series will use the FIA driver categorisation system, with drivers ranked Silver being the highest permitted to participate.

It is expected that up to 20 cars will be on the grid at the season-opener, with brands confirmed for the non-series race at Sandown including BMW, Mercedes, McLaren, and Ginetta.

The news follows the announcement of details about SRO’s expanded Australian presence.

Monochrome GT4 Australia will count Williams as Category Manager, after his work on the competition this year when it was part of APC.

“Being able to deliver a fully aligned GT4 offer in Australia is important for the sport and sponsors,” said SRO Motorsports Australia CEO Ben McMellan.

“The support from Karl Begg and Troy Williams from APC has underpinned being able to achieve this outcome.

“As part of maintaining the current momentum, it is great that Troy will now join SRO as the Category Manager for the SRO Monochrome GT4 Australia Series.”

Williams himself remarked, “It’s exciting to see our new series coming together.

“Alongside SRO Motorsport and Motorsport Australia, we have come up with an exciting calendar with circuits that suit GT4 cars, the broadcasting and most importantly, the competitors.

“One of the things that we wanted was endurance events and suitable race formats. Our competitors want access to some longer races.

“These cars are built for endurance racing, and we feel that we have struck a great balance, with a mix of 4 Hour races, 3 Hour races and short sprints that will include compulsory pit stops.

“I am pleased that all parties have been able to come to an agreement and that in joining SRO as the GT4 Category Manager, we can now really showcase GT4 racing at its best.”

Monochrome CEO Jeff Yew also hailed the future potential of GT4 Australia.

“At Monochrome, we believe in investing in the best, and the Monochrome GT4 Australia Series has shown a great potential of becoming one of the most premium customer racing series in Australia,” said Yew.

“Throughout the 2023 season, we’ve seen some really diverse racing, including many different car brands and a wide range of drivers. Next year, that only looks like growing, with more cars coming into the country.

“Seeing brands like BMW, Porsche and Mercedes AMG take on the likes of McLaren, it’s a true sports car enthusiast’s paradise. This is the only racing series that has McLarens in it, and it’s really exciting to see all of these premium supercar brands once again dominate Australian race tracks.”

Monochrome GT4 Australia calendar and formats

* Sprint rounds to have 2 practice session & 2 qualifying sessions
* Sprint rounds to have mandatory pit stop
* Enduro rounds to have 2 practice sessions & 1 qualifying session
* QR to be a sunset into night enduro with stream for the entire race