WTCC announces 2008 calendar

Changes from this year's calendar include new events in Mexico and Japan, while the Portuguese round will switch from Porto to Estoril.

While a circuit for the Mexican round has not yet been confirmed, the Japanese race will take place at the Okayama circuit, which hosted two Pacific Grands Prix when it was called TI Aida in the mid 1990s.

The Porto street circuit will return to the calendar in 2009, as the series has an agreement with the Portuguese government to only run the event every two years.

Marcello Lotti, chief executive of series promoter KSO, said: "The calendar is the most difficult argument to fix each year, mainly because Formula One has so many dates.

"We want to go back to Mexico because it is important for the manufacturers, and it's important to go to Japan because there are so many manufacturers based there."

Lotti added that the current calendar is only provisional, as he is expecting Valencia and Brands Hatch to swap dates, although he said that final talks regarding the British round would take place this weekend when the series visits the Kent circuit.

"Valencia was not very successful in May, so it may swap with Brands Hatch," he said. "I like Brands Hatch, and I think it would be a good place for us to start the European leg of our season."

Zandvoort is the only other circuit from this year to disappear from the calendar, as it was drafted in as a last-minute replacement for Mexico earlier this season.

March 2                   Curitiba, Brazil
April 6                   Mexico (circuit TBA)
May 18                    Valencia, Spain
June 1                    Pau, France
June 15                   Brno, Czech Republic
July 6                    Estoril, Portugal
July 27                   Anderstorp, Sweden
August 31                 Oschersleben, Germany
September 21              Brands Hatch, UK
October 5                 Monza, Italy
October 26 or November 2  Okayama, Japan
November 16               Macau, China