F1
Coronavirus – Race cancellations and postponements hitting motorsport
F1, WRC, WEC, World RX, WTCR, GT World Challenge, IndyCar, Nascar ...No one can escape the cancellations and other cascades of postponements of the various events due to the spread of the coronavirus pandemic.
Here is a summary of the various announcements of recent days, in order to better understand the harsh impact suffered by motorsport, like all other sports and various facets of our society.
F1
The queen discipline of motorsport has long given the impression of resisting until the end, but the Australian Grand Prix has finally been canceled shortly before the first Australian runs. Bahrain and Vietnam quickly followed with two postponements pronounced. The revised calendar could suggest a recovery in May.
WRC
If you Rally of Mexico is currently taking place without worries on the other side of the Atlantic, Rally Argentina is the first date on the calendar to be postponed. The Rally of Portugal, the next European round, is very uncertain given the state of the situation on the Old Continent.
WEC
The 1000 miles of Sebring, part of the Super Sebring weekend in Florida, were canceled in the wake of President Donald Trump's announcement to ban Europeans from entering the United States (Great Britain and Ireland excepted). Gérard Neveu, director of the championship, discusses this cancellation in an interview.
The championship featuring 100% electric single-seaters, where the Sanya round in China had been canceled for several days, was decided this Friday to pause his season until the beginning of June, with the Paris, Rome, Seoul and Jakarta events impacted.
World RX
The World Championship Rallycross has for the moment been postponed, without a fixed date, the Catalan event in Barcelona (April 18-19). Montalegre in Portugal (May 2-3) remains maintained for the moment.
WTCR
Hungary is not immune upon cancellation at the end of April. To compensate, the Aragon meeting in Spain will double its number of races.
The pre-season tests, already relocated from Monza (Italy) to Hockenheim (Germany), scheduled for March 16 to 19, have been canceled.
If the pre-season tests in Bahrain had been held a few days ago, the first round of the season on the same Sakhir track for the FIA F2 and the FIA F3 was postponed, with the F1 Grand Prix being impacted.
IndyCar
The St Petersburg Grand Prix almost took place behind closed doors this weekend, Penske Corporation, at the head of the championship, ultimately went much further by canceling outright his first four dates.
Theoretically contested within the framework of the Super Sebring with the WEC, the 12 Hours of Sebring will ultimately not take place on the scheduled date next week, but will come conclude the season in November. The Long Beach Grand Prix is also canceled.
GT World Challenge Europe
The flagship championship of SRO Motorsports with its famous Endurance Cup where the 24 Hours of Spa take pride of place, the summit of the season and the Intercontinental GT Challenge, saw Monza event canceled. The Endurance Championship is now due to end in Barcelona in October, with the Sprint Cup now ending in early November in Imola.
Stéphane Ratel, boss of the championship, however indicates that everything will be done to maintain the ten races on the program.
The continental endurance championship announced this Friday the postponements of the Barcelona and Monza meetings.
Nascar
With undoubtedly the most extensive calendar in motorsport with 36 races on the program, Nascar has already announced the postponement of the next rounds of Atlanta and Miami, once imagined behind closed doors.
The French FFSA GT Championship, and by extension the other events of the French Circuit Championship (Peugeot 308 Racing Cup, FFSA F4, Renault Clio Cup, Sprint Cup by Funyo) will not start during the traditional Easter Cups, postponed to July.
Are also impacted, the ERC European Rally Championship, the Ultimate Cup Series, the TTE, Peugeot Sport meetings, the VLN, the Auto Tour and the Ten Thousand Tours ...
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