This Championship was launched in December 2005 and has very quickly grown to be a great success, with 44 cars entered in the first season in 2006, and 50 in 2007. The GT3 cars have also moved into a number of national Championships, in many as the main category. GT3 cars remain close to their road-car origins, making them less expensive to build and to run. The Championship is based on an innovative concept in the form of a ‘Cup of Cups’ with limited numbers of each make allowed to take part. As well as an overall team and drivers classifications, there are separate classifications for each make , with the winner of each Cup being invited to the podium. Entry is reserved for non-professional drivers, with drivers divided into four categories : Platinum, Gold, Silver and Bronze. Platinum drivers, who are classified as professional drivers, may not take part in the FIA GT3 European Championship. Gold category drivers may only compete with a Bronze category driver.

This Championship aims to be a very marketable racing series for manufacturers and teams, using vehicles that are closer to their road-car origins and therefore less expensive to build and to run. The Championship is based on an innovative GT3 concept in the form of a ‘Cup of Cups’ assisted by a number of GT manufacturers or engineering companies. Teams will enter cars in promotional one-make series, which will be combined with other similar series into a single powerful race. This allows for competition not just against those driving the same car, but also against other drivers, at the wheel of cars from rival manufacturers.  The winning drivers of each of these mini, single-make trophies will be invited to the podium to receive a Manufacturer’s award, while the FIA GT3 European Championship trophies will be given to the overall race winners.  Entry will be reserved for non-professional drivers, following a set of rules, with the final decision concerning eligeability lying with the GT Bureau.

For the second season in 2007, the Ascari KZ1R, Aston Martin DBRS9 Corvette Z06, Dodge Viper Coupé, Ferrari 430 GT3, Lamborghini Gallardo and Porsche 997 GT3 Cup cars have been joined by the Ford GT, Ford Mustang and Morgan Aero GT. The Jaguar XKR is expected to make its debut shortly. Rather than specific technical regulations, the cars are homologated by the FIA after completion of extensive technical documentation. The performance of the cars is balanced by the use of various methods, including weight penalties, ride height and hard tyres.

Rather than specific technical regulations, we have a philosophy concerning the cars involved, whose performance will be balanced by the use of weight penalties.

This is not a new class in the FIA GT Championship, which continues to be reserved for GT1 and GT2 cars. However, GT3 cars may compete in the G3 category of the FIA GT Championship on a non-championship basis. The cars are also eligible in many national GT Championships, including the Avon Tyres British GT Championship, the ADAC GT Masters in Germany, Media Groep Van Dyck Belcar in Belgium, the FFSA French GT3 Championship and the Brazilian GT3 Championship in South America. .

Each team must enter three cars of the same make, with two drivers per car. The cars take part in two one-hour free practice sessions. Each driver takes part in one qualifying session : the lower-classified driver in each pairing takes part in the first session and starts the first race, with the higher classified driver taking part in the second session and starting the second race. The races are one-hour long, with a rolling start, and a compulsory driver change between the 23th and 37th minutes.

The GT3 Championship is aimed exclusively at gentlemen drivers and customer relation departments.  Manufacturers will not be directly involved other than providing spare parts and selling cars.

The Championship is intended primarily for private teams and non-professional drivers. All drivers wishing to compete in the FIA GT3 Championship must send their record of race results to the GT Bureau, who will draw up a list of drivers per category. The categories are defined as follows : A (or Platinum): professional driver generally recognised as a well-known driver on the international scene, under the age of 55 years, who has held a Super Licence (for Formula One), or has finished in the top 10 of an F3000, CART/Champcar, IRL, GP2, A1GP or any major single-seater Championship, in the top 6 of an F3 international or major national Championship (British/EuroF3) or main national single-seater Championship (FR2000/Italian national F3000) or secondary international single-seater series (Renault V6, FR2000 international and World Series), who has won the Le Mans 24 Hours outright, or has been a Works Driver, or who is a driver whose performances and achievements, despite not being covered by one of the definitions above, may be considered as professional by the bureau. B (or Gold): semi-professional driver in international series or who has distinguished him- or herself in national Championships. This includes any driver who has been classified in the first 6 places of a “Saloon” car make Championship or Cup, or in the first 10 places of a single-seater Championship, and drivers satisfying the criteria of the platinum category but aged 55 or over. C (or Silver): driver aged under 30 and not satisfying the criteria of categories A and B. This is defined as high-level amateur drivers who have finished in 1st place in national Championships or international series in association with a professional driver, or any driver who has been classified in the first 10 places of a “Saloon” car make Championship or Cup, or who has single-seater experience. D (or Bronze): amateur driver. Any driver who was over 30 years old when his first licence was issued, and who has little or no single-seater experience.