The Australian Formula Ford Series will return to the Supercars support bill with a one-off appearance at the Winton Super Sprint next season.

Confirmation of a six round calendar sees the popular single seater series join the Supercars undercard for the first time in three years.

Set to be the highlight of the season, the third round of the series at the rural Victorian circuit from May 19-21 will be broadcast live on Fox Sports.

The remainder of the season is largely focused around state level meetings as the series moves away from the Shannons Nationals.

The season begins at Sandown (March 3-5) before heading to Wakefield Park in New South Wales from March 31- April 2.

Queensland Raceway will host the fourth round although the date is yet to be confirmed.

The penultimate round will take place at Sydney Motorsport Park in September before the season finale at Phillip Island from September 29 – October 1.

Three of the rounds will form the National Series for Kent-powered Formula Ford 1600 cars, with the Winton Super Sprint, Queensland Raceway, and Sydney Motorsport Park rounds contributing to the points score.

“Our focus has been on close racing and packed grids, and the cost-effective shift towards state-level meetings paid off greatly in 2016,” said Formula Ford Association Chairman John van Leeuwen.

“It’s a path we’ll continue to take for 2017, with the clear expectation of exceeding the 49 competitors that we had come through our National Series this season.

“While our focus is on low-costs and close racing, it’s also a thrill to have our feature race meeting at the Winton SuperSprint.

“In terms of grid size and great wheel-to-wheel racing we feel our product is pretty hard to beat in open-wheeler terms, so the opportunity to showcase that to a large crowd and TV audience is something that all our competitors should be very excited about.”

The category has also confirmed its alliance with the Mazda Road to Indy program will continue next season.

The series winner will be awarded a chance to compete in the USF2000 Scholarship Shootout at the end of the campaign.

Australian Formula Ford National Series 2017 Calendar

Rd1: Sandown Raceway (Vic State) March 3-5
Rd2: Wakefield Park (NSW State) March 31- April 2
Rd 3: Winton SuperSprint (Supercars)* May 19-21
Rd4:  Queensland Raceway* TBA
Rd5:  Sydney Motorsport Park (NSW State)* September 15-17
Rd6: Phillip Island (Vic State) September 29- October 1

*Points-scoring rounds for the National Formula Ford 1600 Series