Alain Bertaut, Vice President of the Automobile Club De L'Ouest, announced the expected changes in the GT regulations to an incredulous press presence at Le Mans.
The substance of these changes is that firstly the need for a road homolgation in GT1 is removed, making the ACO regulations diverge further away from the FIA and that this new formula is to be called GTX (X for experimental, acknowledging the fact that the current cars are becoming no more than prototypes). The regulations will also exclude the use of ABS and traction control, as is the case with LMP already.
Secondly, the GT2 class will be adjusted to run slightly faster and a new class, likely to be called GT3, that is similar to the SCCA and Japanese GTN formulae.
The removal of road homologation will cure the problem of the farcical 'Le Mans special' road cars like those of Toyota and Nissan to name but two. To illustrate this further, when the road versions were shown in the town centre at the start of the week, only the Helem V6 was driven on the road, all the other GTs present were delivered on the back of trucks! They are expensive for the manufacturers and really don't fool anyone into the belief that these are true Grand Tourisme cars. Having said that, there is a danger that this will open the gates to even more hyper-expensive factory cars and the recreation of a 'Group C' situation all over again. This is to some extent counteracted by the welcome addition of the GT3 category that is bound to open Le Mans participation to teams of limited means and ensure diverse and exciting entries in the future.
The '99 prototype regulations will be adjusted based on the performances during the 1998 race to make sure of an even field between LMP and GTX.
Don E Panoz then took over the press conference after Monsieur Bertaut had concluded by announcing a new US sportscar series based on the ACO regulations in the style of the previously announced Petit Le Mans (being held at Road Atlanta, 10th and 11th October 1998). The series is projected for 11 races for 1999. This is a big snub to both the domestic US sportscar series and the FIA. His stated intention was to add some stability and quality to US sportscar racing. This link between a full US sportscar series and Le Mans will bring a whole new character to worldwide sportscar racing if it comes off.
Finally, the question of next year's dates was raised to which the answer was that it is the ACO's intention to run on the traditional second weekend in June, in 1999 this is the 12th/13th June, and reverting to the traditional start time of 4pm. This will not be confirmed, however, until later in the year.