Silverstone working on solution

The track was missing from the calendar that was released today, but there is one date which does not have a venue yet, and Silverstone is expected to take up the April 22 slot.

A spokesman for the circuit told autosport.com: "The reason Silverstone is missing is purely down to dates. We were offered a date by the BTCC which we can't commit to at the moment.

"We expected this to raise a few eyebrows, but have other events scheduled for the date in April, so we are working with the BTCC on a solution and we are confident we can sort something out."

The dates used by the BTCC are dictated by their television deal, meaning that any flexibility from the series is unlikely.

"We have to make sure we fit in around everything else," said series boss Alan Gow, who declined to comment directly about Silverstone.

"There is always something," he added. "We had to avoid the Football World Cup this year, we have to avoid the Rugby World Cup next year and the Olympics the year after that."

Silverstone could take up the available slot if it is possible to move the events that are currently clashing with the proposed BTCC date.