27/01/2017
NEWS STORY
GP2 Series organisers have confirmed the 2017 season calendar. Once again, it will consist of eleven rounds in total, including ten support events of the Formula One World Championship.
Seven rounds will be held in Europe with three flyaway rounds: the return of Sakhir in Bahrain, Baku in Azerbaijan, and Yas Marina Circuit in Abu Dhabi. There will be one standalone event in October at Circuito de Jerez, Spain.
The thirteenth season of the series will open at Bahrain International Circuit on April 14-16. The last time the GP2 field raced in Bahrain was in 2015.
The action will return to Europe with the second round of the year, taking place at Barcelona on May 12-14, before moving to Monte Carlo on May 25-27 and going to Baku in Azerbaijan four weeks later. The month of July will see three events, starting with Spielberg back-to-back with Silverstone on July 7-9 and 14-16 respectively. Budapest will host the seventh round of the season on July 28-30 before a welcome summer break.
The action will restart at Spa-Francorchamps on August 25-27 back-to-back with Monza on September 01-03. The tenth round of the season will take place at Jerez de la Frontera on October 6-8, while the final event will be held at Yas Marina on November 24-26 alongside Formula One.
"I am pleased to reveal this season's calendar which is made of eleven race weekends again, including ten events alongside Formula One and the return of Sakhir," said GP2 CEO Bruno Michel. "We're delighted to race in Jerez between Monza and Abu Dhabi. We wanted to have the same number of events (11) including three flyaway rounds in 2017 as in the previous year, but we were mindful of freight costs. This meant not adding a fourth flyaway round and staying in Europe for a standalone event. This is also why we decided to hold our final pre-season test session in Bahrain, ahead of the season opener."
Tests
13-14-15 March Barcelona, Spain
29-30-31 March Sakhir, Bahrain
2017 Race Calendar
14-16 April Sakhir, Bahrain
12-14 May Barcelona, Spain
25-27 May Monte Carlo, Monaco
23-25 June Baku, Azerbaijan
07-09 July Spielberg, Austria
14-16 July Silverstone, Great-Britain
28-30 July Budapest, Hungary
25-27 August Spa-Francorchamps, Belgium
01-03 September Monza, Italy
06-08 October Jerez de la Frontera, Spain
24-26 November Yas Marina, UAE