The World Endurance Championship will delay the start of next season after revising the 2019-2020 schedule.
Though stressing the calendar could still change as the COVID-1i9 pandemic continues to develop, the new calendar proposes racing will resume on August at the 6 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps.
The 24 Hours of Le Mans, which is traditionally held in June, has been pushed back to run across the September 19-20 weekend before the season concludes in Bahrain in November.
“The evolution of this global health crisis has left us with little choice,” said Gerard Neveu, CEO of the WEC.
“It is today impossible to consider organising an international motorsport event before the summer, so we have rearranged the calendar accordingly while keeping the same number of events on the schedule.
“However, we must be prepared for some big changes for next season because we will have to incorporate many parameters, starting with the inevitable economic difficulties that are to come.
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“For the time being our overriding concern is for everyone’s good health, and we hope that everyone will take good care of themselves and their loved ones in the weeks to come.”
As a consequence of the schedule change to the current campaign the Season 9 calendar has also been impacted.
The World Endurance Championship runs across calendar years, but for next year will revert to a traditional annual calendar.
“We did our utmost to guarantee that the current campaign will be comprised of eight rounds, ensuring equal terms for all competitors,” explained Richard Mille, President of the FIA Endurance Commission.
“Bearing in mind the economic implications of the crisis and their impact on the industry, delaying the start of the next season until 2021 is the right thing to do, giving competitors enough time to regroup ahead of the following campaign.”
With five events completed, Toyota currently holds the top two places in the standings with the Mike Conway, Kamui Kobayashi, and Jose Maria Lopez entry on top with 112 points.
2019 – 2020 FIA WEC Updated Provisional Calendar
01 September 2019 4 Hours of Silverstone (GBR)
06 October 2019 6 Hours of Fuji (JPN)
10 November 2019 4 Hours of Shanghai (CHN)
14 December 2019 8 Hours of Bahrain (BAH)
23 February 2020 Lone Star Le Mans (USA)
15 August 2020 TOTAL 6 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps (BEL)
19 & 20 September 2020 24 Hours of Le Mans (FRA)
21 November 2020 8 Hours of Bahrain (BAH)
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