Endurance, Sprint Cup Calendars Updated; Silverstone Absent

SRO Motorsports Group has updated its 2021 GT World Challenge Europe powered by AWS calendar with Silverstone absent from the Endurance Cup schedule and Magny-Cours retained as a Sprint Cup round.

SRO’s schedule announcement on Friday at the Total 24 Hours of Spa clarified some of the question marks on the provisional calendar that was released last month.

Monza, Paul Ricard, Spa-Francorchamps, the Nürburgring and Barcelona will make up the Endurance Cup season, while Silverstone has dropped off the planned calendar for the first time in a decade.

Silverstone has not hosted Endurance Cup this year but its planned event was canceled amid SRO’s European calendar reshuffle in reaction to the coronavirus pandemic.

SRO founder and CEO Stephane Ratel confirmed that GTWC Europe will not visit Silverstone because all of SRO’s support championships are unwilling to go there due to logistical uncertainties stemming from the current Brexit situation.

Ratel added that it would not be financially viable for SRO to promote a Silverstone event with only one series in action.

Sportscar365 understands that Silverstone was being considered for Endurance Cup as recently as August, before a decision was made to keep the season on mainland Europe.

Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya has reverted to its Endurance Cup status after originally being slated to hold round four of Sprint Cup, which it was a part of this year.

The Spanish Grand Prix venue will hold a three-hour race to close out the season in early October.

The United Kingdom still features on the GTWC Europe schedule in the form of a Sprint Cup round at Brands Hatch, where the season will kick off on May 1-2.

Round two is set to be held at Magny-Cours, which was not on the provisional calendar.

Magny-Cours was introduced to Sprint Cup this season as part of the pandemic-enforced date and event changes, hosting a pair of races last month.    

Rounds three and four will be held at Zandvoort and Misano, while the location of the season finale in late September has yet to be finalized.

Ratel previously hinted that Sprint Cup could host an overseas round to end its year, although it’s understood that this is no longer in the works.

2021 GT World Challenge Europe calendar

Apr. 16-18 – Monza (Endurance)
May. 1-2 – Brands Hatch (Sprint)
May. 7-9 – Magny-Cours (Sprint)
May. 28-30 – Paul Ricard (Endurance)
Jun. 18-20 – Zandvoort (Sprint)
Jul. 2-4 – Misano (Sprint)
Jul. 29-Aug. 1 – Total 24 Hours of Spa (Endurance)
Sep. 4-5 – Nürburgring (Endurance)
Sep. 18-19 or Sep. 25-26 – TBA (Sprint)
Oct. 8-10 – Barcelona (Endurance)