Under its own guidelines, SRO Motorsports Australia denied Sheargold and Hobson from entering the Am class despite being rated as Bronze drivers by the FIA.
SRO Motorsports Australia, the promoter of GT World Challenge Australia, has added stipulations for amateur drivers for 2025.
Line-ups are assessed on a case-by-case basis, and Hobson’s previous ranking as a Silver (which was downgraded to Bronze this year) precluded him from competing.
RAM Motorsport subsequently withdrew its entry from GT World Challenge Australia.
In a statement issued to Speedcafe in the wake of RAM Motorsport’s decision on Tuesday, SRO Motorsports Australia said it offered RAM Motorsport options.
Per 10.1 of the GT World Challenge regulations: “Should a FIA Bronze graded driver requesting entry to GT Challenge Australia meet any of the above criteria, the full line-up will be taken into account and limitations (co-driver imposition or weight added to the car) will be applied.”
Sheargold claimed SRO Motorsports Australia did not offer RAM Motorsport that option.
“We would have happily accepted the imposition of extra weight, or an additional pit stop penalty to run in the Am class, but none of these options were offered,” the team said in a statement.
“The options offered were for Mike to run independently in the Am class or for Mike and Brett to run in the Pro-Am class.”
In its statement issued to Speedcafe, SRO Motorsports Australia said it foreshadowed the possibility of tighter restrictions on driver line-ups in its draft regulations released to competitors in December last year.
RAM Motorsports announced on March 6 that Garth Walden would step aside, opening the door for Hobson to join Sheargold in GT World Challenge Australia.
Sheargold said the team was only told on March 12 that he and Hobson would not be allowed to compete together, two weeks before the March 25 pre-season media day test at Phillip Island.
He also claimed SRO Motorsports Australia told him that he would also not be able to return with former co-driver Garth Walden either.
Sheargold said he was frustrated by the notice period and that if it had issued with its 2024 driver line-up then it expected SRO Motorsports Australia would have notified them earlier.
Sheargold labelled it “an extraordinary stance… not to allow the current champions the opportunity to defend the title.”
“I’m at a loss for words at the way SRO has handled our entry,” said Sheargold.
“Why didn’t they flag our current combination as an issue last year when they had the chance? This would have given us clarity and time to consider other options.
“Brett pays his way to drive a GT car, he runs a full-time business, you could say it is a driving business in a way but it’s a trucking and distribution business, he’s not in a GT3 car every other week. If that doesn’t fit the definition of an Am, then I don’t know what does.”
Walden was left equally bemused by the decision that he said is unprecedented in his experience.
“I couldn’t believe it when I was told not only would Mike and Brett not be accepted as a pairing but that if we were to apply to enter our driver combination from last year again, it would have been rejected,” said Walden.
“We have run for three years and won the championship once, not exactly a stranglehold. I haven’t seen anything like this in my 25-plus years in the sport.
“Other respected global series seem to have no issue with Brett’s Bronze rating, and he has competed in Am pairings in those series; for some reason, SRO does and has said this position is consistent with SRO’s other series worldwide.
“I guess this means that despite Brett’s provisional Bronze rating he can’t compete in the Am class with SRO not only in Australia but in any of their events.”
GT World Challenge Australia is set to get underway at Phillip Island on April 4-6.
