Brazilian V8 Stock Cars: 2016 calendar announced

The 38th season of Brazilian V8 Stock Car Championship, the most competitive racing series in Brazil, has just announced the 2016 calendar. Similar to 2015, next year’s schedule will be comprised of 12 race weekends and a total of 21 races (nine double-headers plus three single races). The good news are the return of Londrina to the series after the revamp of the ‘Autódromo Ayrton Senna’, finishing a three-year absence, as well with the debut of the brand new ‘Circuito dos Cristais’, in Curvelo, a city located in the central region of Brazil. The Million Reais Race is back to Interlagos after two years being contested in Goiânia.

Start in Curitiba

The 2016 calendar will kick off on March 6th with the All-Star Race in Curitiba - for which official drivers invite their partners from all over the world to share the wheel of their cars on a 50-minute race. Then, teams and drivers take on the second round - the first double-header - at Nova Santa Rita’s Velopark circuit, on April 10th.

Goiânia, the stage of 2015 season-opener and the Million Reais Race, will host the third round on May 22nd, and a fortnight later the series heads South again to Santa Cruz do Sul on the fifith of June. Twenty days later, the main Brazilian racing series stays on Rio Grande do Sul state to begin a sequence with both of the fastest tracks in the country: Tarumã on June 26th and then Cascavel, Paraná, on July 17th.

Round seven will feature a single race: the Million Reais Race, this year won by Thiago Camilo in Goiânia, will be back to Brazil’s most important venue - Interlagos, on September 11th. The circuit in São Paulo will host two Stock Car rounds on a season for the first time since the major revamp was initiated in 2014 following FIA’s and FOM’s requirements for the Brazilian Grand Prix.

Londrina, on the North of Paraná state, is back to the calendar after three years. Local government is already working on a new tarmac layer for the circuit to host round eight on September 25th.

On round nine, Stock Cars fly back to Goiânia on October 16th. Fifteen days later, back to the Federal Capital Brasília, a track which missed the calendar in 2015 due to a revamp to host IndyCars. The venue, though, comes with an asterisk on the date due to works still to be initiated by local authorities. "We are still waiting for some warranties promised by the local government, but we hope the revamp will be finished in time so this circuit can host a Stock Car event", says Mauricio Slaviero, director of Vicar.

The newest racetrack in Brazil

The 11th round will take Brazilian V8 Stock Cars to the newest racetrack featured on the calendar. The ‘Circuito dos Cristais’, in Curvelo, a city located 100 miles away from the Minas Gerais capital, Belo Horizonte. The venue is still under construction, but the circuit already has its tarmac layer - which allowed some Stock cars to do a presentation test required by the owners of the venue. The track is longer than Interlagos with 4.420 km length, 18 turns, anti-clockwise and a 30-metre gap from the highest to the lowest point of the circuit.

Moreover, Interlagos will host the final round on December 11th, 2016 - hopefully like this year, with the champion still to be decided on a 40-minute race and double points to be awarded.

The other racing events organized by Vicar - BRTCC, Stock Car Light, Brazilian Formula 3 and the Mercedes-Benz Challenge - continue to be a part of the event, and their calendars will be announced later.

Brazilian V8 Stock Car 2016 Calendar

Round 1 - March 6: Curitiba (PR) All Star Race
Round 2 - April 10: Velopark (RS)*
Round 3 - May 22: Goiânia (GO)*
Round 4 - June 5: Santa Cruz do Sul (RS)*
Round 5 - June 26: Tarumã (RS)*
Round 6 - July 17: Cascavel (PR)*
Round 7 - September 11: Interlagos (SP) Million Reais Race
Round 8 - September 25: Londrina (PR)*
Round 9 - October 16: Goiânia (GO)*
Round 10 - October 30: Brasília (DF)*/to be confirmed
Round 11 - November 20: Curvelo (MG)*
Round 12 - December 11: Interlagos (SP)
*Double-header

Vicar