V8 Supercars Australia announced its 2010 championship calendar at Phillip Island today (Sunday).

It reveals that the championship will start early and will include a nine-week mid-season break, meaning the season will have a distinctive autumn and spring phase to it.

The earlier start has compacted the two-half season with 10 events up until mid-June, a nine-week break and six events to finish the season, culminating again with the massive Sydney Telstra 500 in December.

In other calendar movements the Falken Tasmania Challenge has been moved to November from this year’s May date while the Norton 360 Challenge at Sandown has also been shifted to the more weather friendly date of November 19-21, slotting the BigPond Perth 300 to a more workable June date.

It also enables a top-end loop for teams to curve around the country from Perth to Darwin, Darwin to Townsville in one movement, if they choose to take that option.

The 2010 V8 Supercar Championship Series:

18 – 20 February Yas Marina Circuit, Abu Dhabi
25 – 27 February Desert 400, Bahrain International Circuit, Bahrain
11 – 14 March Clipsal 500, Adelaide Parklands, SA#
26 – 28 March Australian Grand Prix, Albert Park, VIC
16 – 18 April ITM Hamilton 400, Hamilton, NZ
31 April – 2 May Qld Raceway, QLD#*
14 – 16 May Winton, VIC#
4 – 6 June BigPond 300, Barbagallo, WA*
18 – 20 June SKYCITY Triple Crown, Hidden Valley, NT
9 – 11 July Dunlop Townsville 400, Townsville, QLD#
MID SEASON CHAMPIONSHIP BREAK
10 – 12 Sept L&H 500, Phillip Island, VIC
7 – 10 Oct Supercheap Auto Bathurst 1000, Mt Panorama, NSW#
21 – 24 Oct SuperGP, Surfers Paradise, QLD
5 – 7 Nov Falken Tasmania Challenge, Symmons Plains, TAS
19 – 21 Nov Norton 360 Sandown Challenge, Sandown, VIC#
3 – 5 Dec Sydney Telstra 500, Homebush, NSW#

* Denotes provisional
# Denotes Fujitsu V8 Supercar Series