IndyCar has dropped one oval race and replaced it with a new event at the Circuit of the Americas on its 2019 calendar.

The championship also confirmed the season finale will move from Sonoma to Laguna Seca.

For the ninth year in a row the season will begin on the St Petersburg road course in Florida. However the Phoenix oval, which returned to the championship three years ago and held this year’s second oval, has been dropped in favour of a race at COTA.

The championship has previously been unable to race at the road circuit outside the Texan capital Austin due to its agreement with the Texas Motor Speedway oval. However the series agreed new terms with the venue when it extended its contract last month, opening up the possibility for it to race at other circuits in the region.

It will be the first time IndyCar, under its current sanctioning body, has raced on a circuit in the same year as F1. Until 2003 the series only raced on ovals.

The last time a top American single-seater series shared a track with F1 in the same year was when Sebastien Bourdais won the Champ Car Grand Prix of Montreal at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve in 2006.

The changes reduces the number of oval circuits on the 17-race calendar from six to five. They include the Pocono superspeedway where Robert Wickens was badly injured in a crash last month.

The third round of the championship will take place at Barber Motorsports Park, where Fernando Alonso is due to participate in a closed test tomorrow as he considers a switch to the championship next year.

2019 IndyCar calendar

Round Date Event Track 1 10th March St Petersburg Street 2 24th March Circuit of the Americas Road 3 7th April Barber Motorsports Park Road 4 14th April Long Bech Street 5 11th May Indianapolis road course Road 6 26th May Indianapolis 500 Oval 7 1st June Detroit race one Street 8 2nd June Detroit race two Street 9 8th June Texas Motor Speedway Oval 10 23rd June Road America Road 11 14th July Toronto Street 12 20th July Iowa Oval 13 28th July Mid-Ohio Road 14 18th August Pocono Raceway Oval 15 24th August Gateway Oval 16 1st September Portland International Raceway Road 17 22nd September Laguna Seca Road

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IndyCar