The number of all-professional driver lineups in the Blancpain GT Series will be capped next season.
In an attempt to enhance the profile of the Pro-Am, Am and Silver Cup categories to potential entrants, the Pro-class entry list of the Blancpain GT Series Endurance Cup will be limited to 26 cars.
The championship posted an average of 32 Pro entries per race in 2017 (discounting the 24 Hours of Spa), while Pro-Am attracted an average of 17.
The new limit will be imposed at each BGTS Endurance round except Spa, which permits additional entries from teams participating in the Intercontinental GT Challenge.
Furthermore, driver lineups in the Pro-Am cup will be adjusted to require at least two bronze drivers per car next season, paired with a driver of silver, gold or platinum status.
Series organiser SRO Motorsports has always placed heavy emphasis on the importance of amateur competitors, who help fund entries to each of its championships.
An SRO statement said: "Having learned from the past experiences of full Pro championships in GT1, in the late nineties and again some ten years later, the SRO Motorsports Group wishes to stop the increasing professionalisation of the Blancpain GT Series, where the average number of Pro cars has gone from 11 in 2011 to 32 this season."
In addition, the qualifying procedure for the BGTS Endurance Cup will be altered to include the times of all three drivers.
The previous format only took the best single time across three quickfire sessions, meaning that Pro-Am cars often featured above many of the Pro runners.
The new system, however, will include the times of amateur drivers in the final combined score, rectifying the issue of dispersed Pro-Am grids.
Changes have also been made to the format of the BGTS Sprint Cup.
From next year, both one-hour races at each round will contribute full points to the championship, effectively ending the status of the reduced-point 'qualifying races' on Saturdays.
Points from the BGTS Sprint Cup will continue to count towards the overall Blancpain GT Series title, which was won this year by Mirko Bortolotti and Christian Engelhart.
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