Coronavirus Cancels Motorsports
March 13, 2020 by ponycargirl 2 Comments
As the COVID-19 – the illness commonly referred to as coronavirus – has been declared a pandemic by the World Health Organization (WHO), the cancellations in the world of motorsports are piling up. Here's a list of cancellations and postponements as of March 23, 2020:
Trans-Am Speedfest: WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca May 1-3 POSTPONED
World RX of Portugal: POSTPONED. "Due to the Portuguese government declaring a state of emergency and the suspension of all sporting events in Portugal in light of global health concerns… this year's World RX of Portugal on May 2-3 has been postponed. …We will provide further updates as soon as we have them."
Lime Rock Park: CLOSED. "This closure will remain in effect through April 30, 2020, unless earlier modified, extended, or terminated by Governor Lamont. This closure will affect all daily track rentals and events previously scheduled at the facility. Lime Rock staff will continue to work within the "Stay Safe, Stay Home" policy and will be available to answer calls and concerns during this time. The decision to reschedule any major events will be made at a future time. Our current intention is to run all major events for the 2020 season."
WEC TOTAL 6 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps: "…the decision has been taken to postpone the 7th round of the FIA World Endurance Championship's 2019-2020 season… The promoter, Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps and the RACB are working together to find a new 2020 date and, as soon as this is finalised, it will be communicated."
Formula 1:
UPDATE 3: As of March 23, Azerbaijan GP is POSTPONED.
UPDATE 2: As of March 19, 2020, the Dutch GP and Spanish GP are POSTPONED while Monaco is CANCELLED.
Mandatory summer shutdown has been moved from August to March and April, and extended to up to 21 days.
UPDATE: As of March 13, 8:30 a.m. EST, Bahrain and Vietnam Grand Prix have been POSTPONED. The Formula 1 season will tentatively resume in May 2020. Additionally, the second round of the Virgin Australia Supercars Championship, which were to have run at Albert Park during the GP weekend, will be POSTPONED to later in the year. (Note that the Chinese Grand Prix had already been POSTPONED in February.)
The Australian Grand Prix, supposed to have been run on Sunday, March 15, 2020 has been CANCELLED
Twelve Hours of Sebring: IMSA have POSTPONED the race to November 11-14, 2020.
ABB FIA Formula e: As of March 13, season is SUSPENDED for two months
INDYCAR: As of March 26, 2020, the Indy 500 has been POSTPONED to Sunday, August 23, 2020.
As of March 13, 2020, all NTT INDYCAR SERIES events have been CANCELLED through April. This includes the Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg.
WRC Rally Mexico: Remaining stages CANCELLED March 14th to allow teams to travel home. Sebastien Ogier declared winner.
Rally Argentina: 2020 SpeedAgro Rally Argentina, originally scheduled for 23 – 26 April, has been POSTPONED. New dates will be announced soon.
100 Acre Wood Rally: As of March 13, 100 Acre Wood Rally is CANCELLED.
NASCAR:
FULL UPDATE:
Atlanta Motor Speedway: "With the health and safety of fans, staff, competitors, race teams and media our top priority, NASCAR and Atlanta Motor Speedway POSTPONED this weekend's race activities to a yet-to-be determined future date."
ARCA: This weekend's ARCA Menards Series East race at Five Flags Speedway in Pensacola, Florida has been POSTPONED.
Homestead-Miami: "As a result of the recent Coronavirus and taking necessary precautions to ensure the safety of our fans and industry stakeholders, NASCAR has decided to postpone the race events at Atlanta Motor Speedway this weekend and Homestead-Miami Speedway next weekend."
Whelen Modifier South Boston: "NASCAR and South Boston Speedway officials announced Friday that the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour opener has been POSTPONED INEVITABLY."
NASCAR WHELEN EURO SERIES: After conversations with Circuit Ricardo Tormo and the local government, the NASCAR Whelen Euro Series season opener in Valencia, Spain has been rescheduled due to the ongoing concerns regarding the spread of COVID-19 (coronavirus). The NASCAR GP Spain at Valencia, previously scheduled for April 25-26, will now take place on October 31st – November 1st. [POSTPONED]
The Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach: The April 17-19 GP has been CANCELLED. "…various race sanctioning bodies and the Long Beach Convention Center to discuss the viability of rescheduling this event at a later time in the year. If that is not possible, then we look forward to presenting the Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach on April 16-18, 2021."
Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg: CANCELLED.
NHRA: As per the the March 12 press release, "NHRA officials are postponing a portion of the Amalie Motor Oil NHRA Gatornationals. Some Sportsman racing will be contested this weekend without ticketed spectators, but the majority of the event has been POSTPONED to a later date."
Formula D: The 2020 opening round is now CANCELLED. "For all Formula DRIFT Long Beach ticket buyers, information on refunds and/or credits will be forthcoming."
Trans Am Series: The debut at Sonoma Raceway that was originally scheduled for March 14-15 is POSTPONED. New date will be announced soon. "As an additional precautionary measure, the upcoming SpeedTour Road Atlanta Grand Prix event at Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta March 28–29 will be held WITHOUT SPECTATORS."
Monster Energy Supercross: March 14 race at Indianapolis' Lucas Oil Stadium has been CANCELLED.
FIA World Rallycross: "In light of the Generalitat de Catalunya's decree to currently suspend all live sporting events in response to the evolving COVID-19 (coronavirus) situation, this year's World RX of Catalunya-Barcelona on April 18-19 has been POSTPONED."
Daytona 200/Daytona TT: "American Flat Track has postponed Bike Week At DAYTONA race events at Daytona International Speedway for March 14 and 15, which includes Saturday's DAYTONA 200 presented by CoMoto and the DAYTONA TT. The 79th DAYTONA 200 will be held as part of Biketoberfest in October and the DAYTONA TT will be rescheduled on a future date. "
24 Hours of LeMans: POSTPONED to September 19-20, 2020.
Sonora Rally 2020: Ran as planned.
It should also be noted that outside of motorsports, the New York International Auto Show has been POSTPONED from April to August 2020. The Dallas Auto Show has also been postponed. Concrete dates for both will be announced soon.
The Race Cars at the New York Auto Show Seed 9 Rally 2015 StarCom NASCAR Team at NYIAS The SEMA 2015 Run-Down ABB Formula E Championship Double Header in NYC
Leo Parente on how to stop F1 + IMSA Screwing Up Racing
March 24, 2014 by Gary Grant Leave a Comment
Because of the insanely early broadcast time and the fact that I forgot to PVR it, I didn't watch the Australian Grand Prix. Then, last Monday all I saw on my various social media streams were complaints of penis nosed cars that sounded like pregnant lawn equipment. Oh, there were also discussions about a Red Bull F1 driver I have never heard of who was disqualified for some technical infraction that sounded like it was at least partly the FIA's fault. Sounded like I wasn't missing anything.
I did however watch the excellent internet feed from Sebring, where the IMSA folks seemed to finally figure out how to properly broadcast a race online. I got to watch some monumental incidents that were caused by pay-to-play drivers with limited talent that damn near killed a couple of pros. I did have to get out of the house for a while, so I missed the incidents that led up to IMSA race control's colossal blunder. In case you missed it, IMSA assessed an 80 second stop and go penalty for avoidable contact to a car that was nowhere near the incident in question. The penalty most likely caused a dramatic change to the podium at the end of the day. This marked two events in a row where IMSA officials had made major gaffs that affected the outcome of the competition.
Australian GP says thanks to Volunteers Tom Cruise peddles the Red Bull F1 car and then loops a chopper Shutter Speed: Two in a row Red Bull pits Daniel Ricciardo against Aussi fighter jet This is how it's done: pass 15 cars in one lap!
Australian GP says thanks to Volunteers
It may sound like a bit of a cliche, but without volunteers, there would be no auto racing. The reality of the sport is that even a club racing event requires an small (sometimes not so small) army of people to make the action on track happen. From the folks at the front gate and the those giving out directions to fans, to the grid crews and corner workers, most are volunteers, even at a Grand Prix. Beyond their love of racing and maybe a free burger and a beer, all these good folks want at the end of the day is a bit of well deserved recognition.
The gang at CAMStvmedia have taken the time to put together this fantastic thank you for all of the volunteers at the Australian GP, that includes some heavy hitters like Lewis Hamilton and Sebastian Vettel.
Good on ya lads!
Vodaphone puts Lewis & Jenson to work Car Swap – Stewart vs. Hamilton – The View From the Grandstands Post car swap interview with Tony Stewart and Lewis Hamilton Coolest Granny ever tries RallyX in a Subaru Toyota tests angry WRC spec Yaris