The W Series, the single-seater racing series for women, has announced its initial schedule of six races for the upcoming season.
The schedule includes new events in St. Petersburg, Russia and Anderstorp, Sweden. All six events will be run in conjunction with the DTM touring car series.
The W Series race in St. Petersburg, Russia, will be held on a new circuit called Igora Drive. The track measures 2.539 miles in length and was designed by Formula One circuit designer Hermann Tilke.
Sweden’s Anderstorp Raceway is nearly the same length as Igora Drive, measuring 2.501 miles. However, the Swedish track is a historic circuit, having been built in 1968 and previously hosted the Formula One Swedish Grand Prix from 1973 to 1978.
Other venues on the calendar include Autodromo Nazionale di Monza in Monza, Italy, TT Circuit Assen in Assen, Netherlands, the Norisring street circuit in Nuremberg, Germany, and Brands Hatch in West Kingsdown, England.
“We at W Series are thrilled to announce two exciting and important new countries in which W Series will race in 2020: Russia and Sweden,” said Catherine Bond Muir, W Series Chief Executive Officer. “Our Swedish race, at Anderstorp, will take W Series to the Nordics for the first time, a region that’s home to our Finnish driver Emma Kimilainen, who was one of the stars of the 2019 W Series championship, winning at Assen [Netherlands] last year, as well as one of our new-for-2020 drivers, our recently announced Norwegian driver Ayla Agren.
“Our Russian race, at St Petersburg, will be the home fixture for the youngest driver in the 2020 W Series championship, 16-year-old Irina Sidorkova, from Petrozavodsk, which is also in Russia albeit 266 miles [428km] north-east of St Petersburg.
“Both Sweden and Russia represent important new territories for W Series, powerful economies both, appealing to fans, media and sponsors alike.
“We’ll announce the complete 2020 W Series championship calendar as and when we’ve finalized it.”
Provisional 2020 W Series Schedule
May 29-30 – Igora Drive – St. Petersburg, Russia
June 12-13 – Anderstorp Raceway – Anderstorp, Sweden
June 26-27 – Autodromo Nazionale di Monza – Monza, Italy
July 10-11 – Norisring – Nuremberg, Germany
Aug. 22-23 – Brands Hatch – West Kingsdown, England
Sept. 4-5 – TT Circuit Assen – Assen, Netherlands