An accidentally-released provisional calendar for next year’s Superleague Formula brought good news for British fans of the football-themed series this week – but potential bad news for fans of A1GP.
The calendar, sent out in error by series organisers, listed 12 dates including visits to eight European countries and outlining a planned Silverstone event at the beginning of April plus a visit to Brands Hatch at the end of July.
That’s fantastic news for demoralised British fans of open-wheel racing who have recently discovered that A1GP is not slated to visit this country during its fifth season – always assuming it overcomes its current financial problems to race at all – and have seen the 2010 British Grand Prix come under serious threat.
It’s also highly significant that the series envisages no round at the beleagured Donington Park circuit where the series launched in 2008, as well as visiting this summer.
But the big news was a planned visit to Assen in the Netherlands on the weekend of May 15/16. Very few dates on A1GP’s season five are actually confirmed. But one that is? Assen on the weekend of May 15/16.
Not long after this was noted, Superleague Formula’s organisers sent a second email saying that the calendar “was issued mistakenly and… does not accurately represent next season’s schedule.”
Superleague Formula CEO Alex Andreu said in the recalled press release that he was delighted to bring about a planned expansion to 12 rounds after having to rein in his ambitions for season two thanks to the global economic climate.
So it looks like one open-wheel series will be thriving in Britain next year. Even if it might not necessarily be the one we’d all have pulled out of the hat first.