• SRO's Ultracar Sports Club, the unique networking and driving opportunity for owners and manufacturers of the world’s most exclusive and extreme performance cars, announces title sponsorship from prestigious Swiss watch maker Blancpain
• Unique partnership with the Chantilly Arts & Elegance Concours confirmed, bringing the classic supercars of tomorrow together with today’s rarest and most beautiful automobiles in stunning French surroundings
• 2016 Blancpain Ultracar Sports Club events are expected to welcome the first official dynamic public demonstrations of newly launched and highly prestigious performance cars
• SRO has engaged the services of Mark Harrison, the ex-Commercial Operations Director and PR Director at McLaren Automotive. Mark’s experience in helping to launch that company and bringing to market the McLaren P1 will prove invaluable to the Blancpain Ultracar Sports Club
• The Blancpain Ultracar Sports Club offers an improved hospitality suite for guests, plus the unique service of the ‘SRO Race Centre by MMC’ at Circuit Paul Ricard for any owner that wishes to store their car in expert hands with access over the summer to the famous French circuit
• 2015 Ultracar Sports Club featured the rarest and most extreme modern day supercars such as Aston Martin One-77 and Vulcan, Bugatti Veyron, Ferrari 599XX and LaFerrari, Lamborghini Veneno, McLaren P1 and P1 GTR, Pagani Huayra and Zonda Revolucion, and Porsche 918 on track together
• Blancpain Ultracar Sports Club will feature a bespoke display area in the heart of the Blancpain GT Series Paddock as well as four track sessions over 24 hours for owners, bringing the sound and sight of the latest and most exclusive Ultracars to tens of thousands of supercar fans
The Brands Hatch International GP circuit will host the first Blancpain Ultracar Sports Club event of the year where it is expected that 20 of the world’s most extreme road cars will be a part of the Blancpain GT Series Sprint Cup race weekend on May 7th and 8th.
After Brands Hatch, two more iconic race tracks play host to the Blancpain Ultracar Sports Club, with Circuit Paul Ricard hosting its second annual event in June, during the Blancpain GT Series Endurance Cup meeting, followed by the Circuit de Catalunya near Barcelona bringing around 30 million pounds of extreme sports car talent to Spain in the first weekend of October.
A unique weekend programme has also been agreed with the organisers of the Chantilly Arts & Elegance for guests of the Blancpain Ultracar Sports Club that will offer an exciting new way for supercar owners to experience what is already regarded as one of the world’s best automobile concourse events. Owners of qualifying cars will enjoy all the experiences that VIP visitors are looking forward to, including a VIP gala dinner in the chateau, but will also have exclusive access to track time at a race circuit and take part in un-timed runs on the hill climb.
Stephane Ratel (Founder and CEO SRO Motorsports Group): “The successful rise in popularity of GT3 racing in recent years was partly as a result of SRO rejuvenating the concept of ‘Gentlemen Drivers’ and sensible budgets that allowed sports car manufacturers to go racing. The Blancpain Ultracar Sports Club is really just an extension of that logic to a similar audience, as supercars become faster, rarer, and more powerful than racing cars. The Blancpain Ultracar Sports Club offers owners of extreme and rare supercars a safe and dynamic opportunity to enjoy their cars’ potential in a relaxed networking environment at the heart of the world’s best GT sports car racing. We were extremely pleased with the response to the first two events held in 2015 and the momentum has carried on into 2016 with the support of Blancpain. It is a privilege to work with such enthusiasts and we expect that passion for performance cars to be reflected with a number of manufacturers presenting their new ultracars to the Blancpain Ultracar Sports Club this year. We plan to build the Blancpain Ultracar Sports Club into the world’s best networking platform for buyers and owners of these incredible machines.”
Guests at the Blancpain Ultracar Sports Club enjoy four sessions over 24 hours on track in between races. With no competitive element, the sessions in 2015 were ‘incident’ free and saw at least two manufacturers present first global dynamic drive experiences for new models as well as conduct informal benchmarking against competitors; equally, owners enjoyed the sessions, some swapping cars to see how they enjoyed ultracars that they had missed out on owning.
But it wasn’t just car owners who benefitted. For the first time, such cars were being showcased dynamically in front of a public audience with spectators at the races also able to see first-hand the unique sight of the world’s greatest performance cars on track and on display in the paddock.
Stephane Ratel (Founder and CEO SRO Motorsports Group): “The beauty of the Blancpain Ultracar Sports Club is that it recognises the common interest that all car lovers have for exotic and rare supercars; whether they are multi-millionaire sports car owners, engineers and designers at manufacturers, or families attending motor racing. It brings everyone’s dream garage to life in a truly memorable and friendly way. I am sure that the Blancpain Ultracar Sports Club will develop into a major annual programme for many owners and manufacturers.”