The International GT Open championship has announced changes to its Qualifying system which will come into effect from the next round at Silverstone this weekend.

Before, Qualifying was split into two parts, with both drivers from each pairing qualifying their car and starting one of the two races.

From now on, both will take part in both qualifying sessions, with the position on the grid determined by the average of the best time of each driver, a system similar to that used in the FIA WEC and in certain formats, British GT.

The qualifying format will include a run of 15 minutes for each driver, with a 5-minute pit time in-between. In case one of the drivers have no time, for whatever reason (incident or technical issue), the grid position will be determined by the average of the two best lap times of the driver that has been able to perform his/her run.

The new system does not imply any change in the driver order: each of the two drivers will take the start of one of the races, according to the order decided by the team.

GT Sport has introduced this change to ensure more homogenous qualifying performances, a wish expressed by many competitors, and foster even closer racing.