1998 FIA GT Championship

Klaus Ludwig and Ricardo Zonta won the GT1 Drivers' Championship for 1998

The 1998 FIA GT Championship marked the second season of FIA GT Championship, an auto racing series endorsed by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA) and managed by the Stéphane Ratel Organisation (SRO). The races showcased grand touring cars adhering to two categories of regulations, GT1 and GT2, and awarded driver and team championships in each category. Commencing on 12 April 1998, the season concluded on 25 October 1998 after ten rounds, spanning across Europe, Japan, and the United States.

The GT1 championships were won by Klaus Ludwig and Ricardo Zonta of the repeat champions AMG Mercedes, while the GT2 title was awarded to Olivier Beretta and Pedro Lamy of Viper Team Oreca.^[1] Subsequent to the season, the GT1 category was eliminated from the FIA GT Championship due to insufficient entries for 1999.

Schedule

All races were shortened to a 500 km (310 mi) distance with the exception of Suzuka. Oschersleben replaced the Nürburgring as the second German round of the series, while Hungaroring and Dijon-Prenois replaced Mugello, Spa, and Helsinki for the rest of the European calendar.

Rnd	Race	Circuit	Date
1	Oschersleben 500	Motopark Oschersleben, Oschersleben, Germany	12 April
2	British Empire Trophy Race	Silverstone Circuit, Silverstone, United Kingdom	17 May
3	Hockenheim 500	Hockenheimring, Hockenheim, Germany	28 June
4	500 km de Dijon	Dijon-Prenois, Prenois, France	12 July
5	Hungaroring 500	Hungaroring, Mogyoród, Hungary	19 July
6	Suzuka 1000 km	Suzuka Circuit, Suzuka, Japan	23 August
7	Donington 500	Donington Park, Leicestershire, United Kingdom	6 September
8	500 km Zeltweg	A1-Ring, Spielberg, Austria	20 September
9	Miami 500	Homestead-Miami Speedway, Homestead, United States	18 October
10	Visa Sports Car Championships	Laguna Seca Raceway, Monterey, United States	25 October
Source:^[2]

Entries

GT1

Entrant	Car	Engine	Tyre	No.	Drivers	Rounds
AMG Mercedes	Mercedes-Benz CLK GTR Mercedes-Benz CLK LM	Mercedes-Benz GT112 6.0 L V12 Mercedes-Benz GT108B 5.0 L V8	B	1	Bernd Schneider	All
				1	Mark Webber	All
				2	Ricardo Zonta	All
				2	Klaus Ludwig	All
DAMS	Panoz GTR-1	Ford-Roush 6.0 L V8	M	3	Éric Bernard	1–5, 7, 9–10
					David Brabham	1–5, 7, 9–10
					Franck Lagorce	6, 8
					Christophe Tinseau	6, 8
					Johnny O'Connell	6
Zakspeed Racing	Porsche 911 GT1-98	Porsche 3.2 L Turbo Flat-6	P	5	Andreas Scheld	1–5, 7–9
					Alexander Grau	1–5
					Armin Hahne	6–9
					Fabien Giroix	6
					Jean-Denis Délétraz	6
				6	Michael Bartels	All
					Armin Hahne	1–5
					Alexander Grau	6
					Andreas Scheld	6
					Max Angelelli	7–10
Porsche AG	Porsche 911 GT1-98	Porsche 3.2 L Turbo Flat-6	M	7	Allan McNish	All
					Yannick Dalmas	1, 3–10
					Bob Wollek	2
					Stéphane Ortelli	6
				8	Jörg Müller	All
					Uwe Alzen	1–4, 6–10
					Bob Wollek	5–6
Team Hezemans	Bitter GT1	Chrysler 356-T6 8.0 L V10	G	9	Jan Lammers	2–3
				9	Mike Hezemans	2–3
				10	Rainer Bonnetsmüller	2–3
					Manfred Jurasz	2–3
					Stefan Hackl	2
					Michael Fielder	3
Team Persson Motorsport	Mercedes-Benz CLK GTR	Mercedes-Benz GT112 6.0 L V12	B	11	Christophe Bouchut	All
				11	Bernd Mayländer	All
				12	Marcel Tiemann	All
				12	Jean-Marc Gounon	All
Davidoff Classic	McLaren F1 GTR	BMW S70/2 6.0 L V12	G	15	Thomas Bscher	1–3, 5–8
Davidoff Classic	McLaren F1 GTR	BMW S70/2 6.0 L V12	G	15	Geoff Lees	1–3, 5–8
Larbre Compétition	Porsche 911 GT1 Evo	Porsche 3.2 L Turbo Flat-6	M	17	Patrice Goueslard	4–5
					Bob Wollek	4
					Carl Rosenblad	4
					Jack Leconte	5
					Jean-Luc Chéreau	5
Parabolica Motorsports	McLaren F1 GTR	BMW S70/2 6.0 L V12	D	27	Jean-Luc Maury-Laribière	2–4
					Patrick Caternet	2–4
					Stefan Widmann	3
Sources:^[3]^[4]

GT2

Entrant	Car	Engine	Tyre	No.	Drivers	Rounds
Viper Team Oreca	Chrysler Viper GTS-R	Chrysler 356-T6 8.0 L V10	M	51	Olivier Beretta	All
					Pedro Lamy	All
					Dominique Dupuy	6
				52	Karl Wendlinger	All
					David Donohue	1, 3–4, 9–10
					Justin Bell	2, 6–8
					Marc Duez	5
					Hideshi Matsuda	6
Chamberlain Engineering	Chrysler Viper GTS-R	Chrysler 356-T6 8.0 L V10	D	53	Ni Amorim	1–5, 7–10
					Gonçalo Gomes	1–3
					Gary Ayles	4–5
					Matt Turner	6–7
					Hans Hugenholtz Jr.	6, 9–10

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