Paul Jeffrey
Premium
In yet another disruption to the normal motorsport calendar, the ACO have today announced the Le Mans 24 Hours has been postponed until September at the earliest.
Set to play host to the final round of the World Endurance Championship in June, until recently the governing body of the sportscar series, and the ACO in France have maintained that the jewel in the endurance racing crown would go ahead as planned. However, the fast moving nature of the Coronavirus outbreak and recent developments appear to have thrown those plans into disarray, with an announcement today that the big race has been postponed to September 19-20th, effectively halting the FIA World Endurance Championship season following recent cancellations of both Sebring and Spa.
Pierre Fillon, President of the Automobile Club de l'Ouest, said during the announcement today:
In other calendar amendments, TOCA have confirmed the British Touring Car Championship will reschedule the first three planned races of the season, although the organisers anticipate moving the missed races to later in the year, thus maintaining the initially planned number of events.
With Le Mans now temporally off the table, the Coronavirus pandemic has pretty much brought the whole motorsport world to a grinding halt, with little realistic idea of when racing will be safe to resume in the coming months.
Original Source: ACO
For motorsport discussions, head over to the RaceDepartment Motorsport sub forum and get engaged with your fellow community members.
Set to play host to the final round of the World Endurance Championship in June, until recently the governing body of the sportscar series, and the ACO in France have maintained that the jewel in the endurance racing crown would go ahead as planned. However, the fast moving nature of the Coronavirus outbreak and recent developments appear to have thrown those plans into disarray, with an announcement today that the big race has been postponed to September 19-20th, effectively halting the FIA World Endurance Championship season following recent cancellations of both Sebring and Spa.
Pierre Fillon, President of the Automobile Club de l'Ouest, said during the announcement today:
"Postponing the 24 Hours of Le Mans from the original dates in June is now the most appropriate way forward in the current exceptional circumstances.
First and foremost, I urge everyone to avoid putting themselves, their loved ones and others at risk. The most important thing today is to curtail the spread of this virus. Our thoughts go out to medical staff working relentlessly for the sake of us all.
The postponement of the 24 Hours of Le Mans means making changes to the WEC and ELMS calendars and we shall announce the new dates shortly. The safety and quality of our events will not be compromised.
Competitors, sponsors, fans, media, medical services and organisers – it is time to pull together, more than ever before”
In other calendar amendments, TOCA have confirmed the British Touring Car Championship will reschedule the first three planned races of the season, although the organisers anticipate moving the missed races to later in the year, thus maintaining the initially planned number of events.
With Le Mans now temporally off the table, the Coronavirus pandemic has pretty much brought the whole motorsport world to a grinding halt, with little realistic idea of when racing will be safe to resume in the coming months.
Original Source: ACO
For motorsport discussions, head over to the RaceDepartment Motorsport sub forum and get engaged with your fellow community members.
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