Donington Park to host Britain’s Le Mans Series round in 2012

Donington Park will host Britain's round of the Le Mans Series next year, taking over Silverstone's spot as the championship's British round.

Silverstone's AUTOSPORT 6 Hours has been a permanent fixture on the LMS calendar since 2007, but is moving to form part of FIA World Endurance Championship next year instead.

Donington, which last hosted the LMS in 2006, and also hosted an FIA Sportscar round earlier in the decade (pictured), will be the scene for the third race of the championship on July 15.

The season will kick off at Paul Ricard on April 1, following an official two-day test a month earlier. Zolder, Brno and the Algarve will stage the remainder of the races, each of which will run to six hours in duration.

As expected, LMP1 machines will not be permitted in the series, top billing instead going to the smaller LMP2 prototypes. The Formula Le Mans, GTE Pro and GTE Am categories have been retained, alongside the new GTC class.

Le Mans Series 2012 calendar

Autosport