Abu Dhabi Dropped from 2011 GP2 Season

The organizers of the GP2 Series have just announced the new racing calendar and the final entry list for the next year’s season. Changes brought to championship mean that the Abu Dhabi race has been dropped, leaving just nine rounds, all in Europe and all supporting the Formula One calendar.

Next year’s season will begin for the first time in Istanbul, Turkey where the Formula One Championship will open its European campaign. Also following the F1 racing calendar, GP2 will then move to Barcelona and Monaco in the last two weekends of May.

After a short break, June’s only race day will take place at Valencia in Spain, on the 25th and the 26th. July’s action packed calendar will be busy with three rounds, the first at Silverstone, then at Nurburgring and Budapest. After the summer heat subsides a bit, GP2 will return to Spa Francorchamps, in Belgium, on the last weekend of August. The last event in the series will take place on the second weekend of September in Monza, Italy.

The entry list for next year’s calendar remains largely unchanged, with the exception of team ART squad, which has confirmed that it will now be called Lotus ART, thanks to its new partnership with Lotus Group. The contract between the teams sees Lotus committing to providing technical support for the GP2 and GP3 race series for the foreseeable future. The season will see 13 teams fight for the crown, with newcomers Carlin and Team Air Asia also entering the fray.

GP2 Series organizers have also scheduled two official test sessions, the first at Silverstone on April 4th to the 6th April followed by Barcelona on April 18th to the 20th.