Provisional 2016 Calendar Released

Sep 11, 2015
2 min read

A draft calendar for the 2016 season has been released today with some interesting date changes.

The season will remain at a length of 18 races. Indianapolis, as expected, as been dropped from the schedule and replaced by the Austrian Grand Prix which will take place at the Red Bull Ring. This will be back-to-back with the Czech Grand Prix, which will cause a bit of annoyance with the race organisers because of the proximity of Austria to the Czech Republic.

For British fans, the date for your diary is the 17th July. I'm not so sure about this date; the August date was good for business as it was in the thick of the English summer holiday which brought in a record crowd.

The Dutch TT takes place on the same weekend as the Formula 1 British Grand Prix, which is a massive mistake. 335,000 people attended the F1 at Silverstone this year, a lot of those fans coming from the Dutch TT just one week before. In terms of TV viewers, MotoGP is going to take a huge hit in this country because the F1 is live on free-to-air that weekend. I hope that this is changed.

The season is set to start on the 20th March in Qatar, with Argentina and Austin back-to-back.

Qatar, Losail International Circuit, 20/3

Argentina, Termas de Rio Hondo, 03/04

United States, Circuit of the Americas, 10/04

Spain, Jerez, 24/04

France, Le Mans, 08/05

Italy, Mugello, 22/05

Catalunya, Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya, 05/06

Holland, TT Circuit Assen, 26/06

Germany, Sachsenring, 10/07

Great Britain, Silverstone, 17/07

Austria, Red Bull Ring, 14/08