The 24 2023 Hours of Spa brought forward by one month

As we recently announced, the new date of the 2023 Belgian Grand Prix has repercussions on the program of other championships scheduled to take place in the Belgian Ardennes next summer.

The FIA ​​disclosed this Tuesday the official calendar for the 1 Formula 2023 world championship, in which the Spa-Francorchamps event was brought forward by a month to take place just before the summer break (July 28-30) instead of being the back-to-school event as was traditionally the case.

Problem: the weekend of July 28-30 was initially supposed to host the 24 Hours of Spa, the high mass of the GT3 planet and series organized by the SRO Motorsports Group.

The promoter of the event took note of the schedule F1 reworked and brought forward the double clock tower in Spa to July 1 and 2, given the inability to keep “ the most frequently used slot since 1953 » says SRO in a press release.

The new date for the 24 Hours of Spa is not the only change in the calendars of the various championships organized by Stéphane Ratel's organization.

Scheduled for Monza (Italy), the opening round of GT World Challenge Europe will take place a week later than initially announced (April 21-23). The Brands Hatch (UK) meeting has been postponed by two weeks (May 13/14).

These two events have been moved so as not to coincide with FIA weekends WEC, many drivers competing in both championships.

The Test days for the 24 Hours of Spa have been brought forward to May 23 and 24, while the Misano event (Italy) has been postponed by two weeks (July 14-16).

The 2023 calendar for the French championship FFSAGT has also been modified. The Magny-Cours round will now take place from May 5 to 7, while the meetings in Dijon (June 16-18), Val de Vienne (July 7-9) and Circuit Paul Ricard (October 6-8) have all been brought forward by a week. The FFSA must still approve this new program.

« We will have to adapt, but it is not lighthearted, we confided at SRO before the officialization of the new date of the 2023 Belgian GP. For us, this upheaval involves 11 changes to dates in other championships ».

The new Spa 24 Hours schedule is expected to have a domino effect on other major events such as the Bikers' Classics and the 25 Hours VW Fun Cup which usually take place on the 1st and 2nd weekend of July respectively. .

But as Florian Jupsin from promoter DG Sport declared with a touch of fatality: “ What is very annoying is that F1 takes up three beautiful weeks in July, but we can only give up. »