Organisers of the Grand Prix of Long Beach have now admitted that the 2020 event has been cancelled following their attempts to reschedule it.

Long Beach was slated for April 17-19, originally the third race of this year’s IndyCar Series, before the first four were called off due to the coronavirus outbreak.

Although IndyCar’s announcement stated that it had opted to ‘cancel’ rather than postpone those races, Grand Prix Association President/CEO Jim Michaelian had held out hope of still running the Long Beach event later in the year.

The Grand Prix Association has now conceded defeat and will begin preparations for 2021.

“Over the past few days, we have actively pursued the possibility of rescheduling the Acura Grand Prix to a later date this year with the City of Long Beach, the Convention Center, the NTT IndyCar Series, IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship and our other race sanctioning bodies,” said Michaelian.

“We are very disappointed that we were unable to put something together for all our loyal fans and valued clients, but trying to reassemble all the elements that have made the Long Beach event such a success does not appear feasible for 2020.

“As a result, our attention will now be focused on planning the 46th Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach on April 16-18, 2021.”

For now, the Indianapolis races are set to open the season in May.