Stéphane Clair: “Too bad everyone is restarting except us! »

Presented last Thursday by the FFSA, the plan for resuming activities in motorsport in the face of the coronavirus crisis has caused some confusion among French organizers, especially the recommendation to be able to organize competitions again from August 1st only.

“At Paul Ricard, we are very embarrassed by this recommendation because we had until now postponed everything based on the information that had been given to us, explains the director of the Var circuit Stephane Clair, contacted by AUTOhebdo.

We were told that after July 15 everything could resume, and this is what caused a lot of uncertainty regarding the possibility of organizing or not the French GP because it was only a handful of days (since the French GP was officially canceled. Editor's note).

We stuck to this date of July 15 for closed-door competitions and reorganized our calendar accordingly.”

For Circuit director Paul Ricard, a resumption of competitions at the beginning of August would have the effect of marginalizing the French organizers while the majority of European countries have opted for a resumption at the beginning of July.

“This news is terribly embarrassing for race organizers, for teams, for everyone, continues the manager. The championships start again at the beginning of July in most European countries.

This date of August 1st will exclude us from certain competitions which – as for usELMS or the “Ten Thousand Tours of Castellet” – generate very significant economic benefits.

The “Dix Mille Tours” for example, involves 350 cars entered. We hope that the coming days will allow us to find solutions for this type of competition.

We have proposed a very precise, well-documented health protocol with strong commitments from the organizers and participants to respect all the instructions in order to minimize risks because the priority remains everyone's health.

We don't want to cause any additional problems but it's a shame that everyone is restarting except us. » The man from Castellet and his counterparts in the motorsport economic sector do not, however, despair of being heard…

“We are currently discussing to try to find exceptional solutions for events which we think could take place without difficulty. There are a few. »