This year, global GT racing promoter SRO Motorsports announced the next iteration of its SRO GT Academy.
Drivers who are rated Silver by the FIA and are under 30 years old (as of December 31, 2026) are eligible for the academy.
Four drivers will be selected for a funded drive at Spa, with one each from GT World Challenge Australia, GT World Challenge Asia, GT World Challenge America, and British GT.
Of the drivers competing in Australia, two are eligible – Tigani Motorsport’s Oscar Targett and Valentino Astuti of Melbourne Performance Centre.
The pair will be judged on a variety of criteria, and not just where they finish the 12 races this season.
Average pace over 10 laps will be assessed, as well as the fastest individual lap times.
Qualifying and race results will be taken into consideration and where they were placed at the time the pit window opened during their stints when they started the race.
There is also an element of risk attached. Drivers deemed responsible for incidents by the stewards could be deducted points.
“The way they’re structuring it is very good,” Targett told Speedcafe.
“There really is no effect by how good or bad your Am driver is.
“I’m very lucky I’ve got a very good Am driver in Shane Smollen, so I think we can be well and truly competitive for podiums throughout the year.
“It’s based on how fast you go in your qualifying session, how fast you are in your stints, and your best lap of your stint. If you crash into someone, it’s not gonna look real good.
“Really, it’s about driving as fast as you can and keeping an eye out for everyone.”
Astuti has been competing on and off in GT World Challenge in recent years, but the allure of a drive in the Spa 24 made committing to the championship an easy decision.
“To see an opportunity come up like that to really push and help young drivers to really get something going and hopefully start a career is amazing,” said Astuti.
“Obviously it’s quite a competitive field already, and then it adds another notch to it. We love that as drivers – I certainly do.
“Having that extra little bit of ‘Oh where’s he?’, you try not to think too much about it, you try to focus on what’s going on at the moment, but it’s really cool.”
Targett said Spa was to Belgium what Bathurst is to Australia.
Famed for its up-hill Eau Rouge and Radillon corner sequence, the circuit attracts a capacity grid of more than 70 cars annually – all of which are GT3 homologated.
“I know a lot of people that have been there and everyone just says it’s not like anything else,” said Targett.
“It’s the biggest GT3 race in the world. There are 70-something cars on the grid. Depends how many they let in. There would probably be 150 if they let them all in.
“It’s the biggest GT race in the world, probably in the top five biggest car races in the world across any category. It’d be cool.”
Round 1 of GT World Challenge Australia powered by AWS at Phillip Island takes place on March 27-29 as part of the Shannons SpeedSeries.
Live broadcast coverage is exclusively on Fox Sports and Kayo Sports.
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