WEC: Papal visit forces Prologue to April

An official visit by the Pope has forced the FIA World Endurance Championship to move its 2017 Prologue – the official pre-season test for all entrants – from its original March date to April 1-2. The event will be held for the first time at Monza.

His Holiness Pope Francis has scheduled a visit to the area on March 24-25, and "for obvious organizational and security reasons it is not possible to combine the WEC's visit with these dates," the series said.

The dates for the official pre-season European Le Mans Series test at Monza remains unchanged on March 28-29.

2017 WORLD ENDURANCE CHAMPIONSHIP CALENDAR
April 1-2 Prologue test, Monza (Italy)
April 16 Silverstone (Great Britain)
May 6 Spa (Belgium)
June 17/18 Le Mans 24 Hours
July 16 Nurburgring (Germany)
September 3 Mexico City (Mexico)
September 16 Austin (USA)
October 15 Fuji (Japan)
November 5 Shanghai (China)
November 18 Sakhir (Bahrain)