Dutch race organisers and promoters CREVENTIC used the final round of its 2018 European Championship season at the Spa-Francorchamps circuit in the Belgian Ardennes to present the race calendars for 2019 for its various series and championships. With the 24H EUROPEAN Championship and the 24H Championship of the CONTINENTS, both for the GT and TCE divisions, the 24H PROTO Championship with six-hour races, the 24H MIDDLE EAST Championship and TCR Middle East, CREVENTIC will be organising races in seven countries across three continents. Of course, all series are ‘powered by Hankook’ to testify the long-standing partnership between the premium tyre manufacturer and the Dutch race organisation.
Traditionally, the season starts at Dubai Autodrome that will be hosting the 14th running of CREVENTIC’s blue-riband event, the Hankook 24H DUBAI, from 10-12 January, 2019. Prior to that, there will be prototype action with a six hour race at the same venue from 4-6 January. The 24H EUROPEAN Championship gets underway with the Hankook 12H MUGELLO (22-23 March), the series making its return to the beautiful venue in the rolling hills of Tuscany to wide acclaim. The next round is the Hankook 12H SPA (19-20 April), followed by another returnee, the Hankook 12H BRNO (23-25 May). The third running of the Hankook 24H PORTIMAO (5-7 July) will be followed by the traditional summer break before the 24H EUROPEAN Championship will be concluded with the Hankook 24H BARCELONA (6-8 September).
For the 24H Championship of the CONTINENTS, the result from the Hankook 24H DUBAI in January, the best result from any of the two European 24-hour races (Hankook 24H PORTIMAO or Hankook 24H BARCELONA) as well as the result from the season-ending Hankook 24H COTA (15-17 November) will be taken into account. The Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Texas will also be serving as the venue for a prototype race, with one additional prototype competition at one of the European rounds (Spa, Brno, Portimao or Barcelona) still to be announced.
The format with two separate starting groups for the GT and TCE divisions, successfully introduced this year, will remain in place for most of the races. Following the positive feedback received from teams and drivers, regulations will remain largely unchanged compared to this year. A new element is the introduction of the P4 class for the 24H PROTO Championship. In the six-hour races of the 24H PROTO Championship, GT cars are admitted as well, but will not be eligible to score points.
Recently, CREVENTIC already announced a new series, the 24H MIDDLE EAST Championship, with three endurance races across the United Arab Emirates in January and February. The series start with the Hankook 6H DUBAI, 25-26 January, followed by the Hankook 4H ABU DHABI, 1-2 February, and ends with the Hankook 10H DUBAI, 7-8 February. For all three events, the programme also includes the inaugural TCR Middle East touring car series, for which CREVENTIC has been appointed as the organiser and promoter.