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Coronavirus: the 24 Hours of Le Mans scheduled for June postponed to 19-20 September
The 24 Hours of Le Mans, the legendary final of the World Endurance Championship (WEC), has been postponed from June 13 and 14 to September 19 and 20 due to the coronavirus pandemic.
"Consequence of the sanitary evolution linked to the coronavirus and the current restrictions in France and in the world, the Automobile Club de l'Ouest (ACO), organizer of the 24 Hours of Le Mans, in concert with the World Endurance Championship FIA WEC and the International Automobile Federation (FIA) have decided to postpone the 88th edition of the 24 Hours of Le Mans, "it was announced in a press release.
"The postponement of the 24 Hours of Le Mans leads to an update of the FIA WEC calendars, which will be communicated soon," added the ACO. "This information will be formalized later as will the precise schedule for the 88th edition of the 24 Hours of Le Mans 2020."
This postponement will also affect the 2020-2021 season of the World Endurance Championship, which was to start on September 5 with the 6 Hours of Silverstone (Great Britain), said WEC director general Gérard Neveu.
Other sports monuments organized in France, the Roland-Garros tennis tournament, scheduled from May 24 to June 7, has been postponed to the end of September and Paris-Roubaix, queen of the classic cyclists, scheduled for April 12, has been without date specification.
The Euro-2020 football, which was to take place in twelve cities across Europe from June 12 to July 12, is postponed to 2021, unlike the Tokyo Olympics, held from July 24 to August 9.
It is the third major motorsport event to be affected on French soil, after the postponement of the 24 Hours of Le Mans motorcycles from 18 and 19 April to 5 and 6 September and the cancellation of the Paris Formula E ePrix , which was to take place on April 18.
The motorcycle Grand Prix de France is still scheduled for May 17 at Le Mans and the Formula 1 Grand Prix de France for June 28 at Le Castellet (Var).
The two previous heats on the WEC 2019-2020 season calendar were also affected by the measures taken against the pandemic: the 1000 miles of Sebring, in the United States, (March 20-21) were canceled and the 6 hours de Spa-Francorchamps, in Belgium, (April 23-25) are postponed to a date to be determined.