Photo: SRO

SRO has announced the 2018 Calendar for the Blancpain GT Series, which includes both the Endurance and Sprint Cups. Whilst the calendar remains largely the same, there are some issues that are worth noting.

Round Venue Date Cup
1 Belgium – Zolder 7 -8 April Sprint
2 Italy – Monza 21 – 22 April Endurance
3 Great Britain – Brands Hatch 5 – 6 May Sprint
4 Great Britain – Silverstone 12 – 13 May Endurance
5 France – Paul Ricard 2 – 3 June Endurance
6 Italy – Misano 23 – 24 June Sprint
7 Belgium – Spa 24 26 – 29 July Endurance
8 Hungary – Hungaroring TBC Sprint
9 Germany – Nurburgring 15 – 16 September Endurance
10 Spain – Barcelona 29 – 30 September Sprint

 

Zolder and Misano have done a direct swap, which means Zolder is now the opening round of the championship.

Problems arise with other moves. The Paul Ricard round has moved to early June. From a fan point of view, this solves the problem of a major endurance race (Paul Ricard is 6 hours) being run just 1 week after the Le Mans 24 Hours. Many fans are feeling the fatigue after Le Mans, and Paul Ricard suffered for it. Unfortunately the new placement of the Paul Ricard 6 hours clashes with the Le Mans Test Day, which might be a logistical problem for some teams and drivers who are pulling double duty.

A more serious issue is the clash between the Silverstone 3 Hours and the Nurburgring 24 Hours. Many Blancpain teams run at the Ring, and this will cause a major headache for those plans. Hopefully this is an issue that can be resolved before the season kicks off.

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