Oct.12 (GMM) The date of the 2010 Monaco grand prix will be a week earlier than originally scheduled to help ease concerns about next year's race calendar.
Although the date-change from the provisionally scheduled 23 May is yet to be confirmed either by Bernie Ecclestone's organisation or by the governing FIA, the Automobile Club de Monaco is now reporting that the 2010 event will take place on 16 May.The change will give teams more time to travel between the famous Principality and the next grand prix destination, Turkey, scheduled for 30 May.The news also all but confirms that formula one will return to Canada next year.Another possible solution to the Monaco-Turkey problem was that the latter race could be delayed by a week if Ecclestone's talks with Montreal race promoters did not come to fruition.The fact that Monaco is having to be held a week early indicates that the Turkey date switch could not take place, ostensibly because Canada's 13 June race date is now set in stone.The Monaco GP is traditionally held on the Sunday after the week of Ascension Day. In 2010, Ascension Day is May 13, which means that local shops will now be closed on the Thursday before the race.
