The all-female championship W-Series revealed a partial calendar for its sophomore season, which will feature six rounds as support of the DTM. Russia and Sweden will make their appearance.
The first all-female single-seater championship W-Series announced earlier this month a partial entry list for its second season, as 18 out of 20 drivers were confirmed.
Today, the series organization shed some light on its sophomore year calendar.
As for the 2020 grid, there is not a final version yet: however, W-Series confirmed its association with the DTM for six of its rounds, with the addition of new entries Russia and Sweden.
Surprisingly, W-Series will not support the famous German touring car championship in Zolder (Belgium) and Hockenheim (Germany), the venue that hosted the first, historical round of the inaugural championship.
The brand new Igora Drive, near St. Petersburg, will host the home race for the youngest lady on the grid, 16-year old Irina Sidorkova.
Designed by famous F1 architect Hermann Tilke, Igora Drive is now currently under construction and will feature a 4,086-long circuit layout.
The DTM drivers who have had so far the chance to visit the venue have described it as a fast and technical track, with a final section characterized by elevation changes and with an interesting mix of fast corners, long straights and hairpins.
On the other hand, the historic Anderstorp circuit will host the Swedish round. Famous for being the home to several Formula 1 Grand Prix between 1973 and 1978, Anderstorp Park will be the home event for the two Scandinavian drivers, Finnish Emma Kimilainen and Norwegian new-comer Ayla Agren. A 2020 marked by a mix of innovation and history: as for Brands Hatch, Anderstorp will see the 20 drivers measuring themselves with an old-school circuit, with few run-off areas and slightly banked and long corners. Curiously, the 1976 edition of the F1 Swedish Grand Prix also saw Italian Lella Lombardi on the starting grid, who still is as of today the last female driver to have taken part in a F1 championship race. The Italian round will also change location: no more Misano (as the Italian riviera round was hit in 2019 by a lack of audience), replaced now by the iconic Autodromo di Monza, which will host the W-Series races in the final weekend of June. With now the first six rounds confirmed, more venues outside of the DTM schedule remain to be formalized. Rumours surfaced about W-Series being close to an agreement with the FIA for a potential support program alongside Formula 1 in the US and Mexico rounds, but the project seemed more likely for the 2021 season. Series CEO Catherine Bond-Muir had in fact previously revealed intentions of expanding the calendar outside of Europe for its third edition. The final calendar will be confirmed in due course when finalised, as the complete 2020 entry list. Two more drivers remain to be announced and W-Series race director Dave Ryan revealed earlier this week that some of the 2019 drivers excluded from the top-12 will in fact be evaluated for the final two seats.
Furthermore, Jamie Chadwick will be the only series champion who will be allowed to defend her title, as from 2021 the championship winner will not get the chance to re-enter the series again.
Provisional W-Series calendar:
St. Petersburg, Russia, May 29-30
Anderstorp, Sweden, 12-13 June
Monza, Italy, 26-27 June
Norisring, Germany, 10-11 July
Brands Hatch, United Kingdom, 22-23 August
Assen, Netherlands, 4-5 September
Ph credits: W-Series Media