Race Weekend Central

24 Hours of Le Mans Postponed to September

The 24 Hours of Le Mans, originally scheduled for June 13-14, has been postponed to Sept. 19-20, the Federation international Automobile (FIA) announced Wednesday (March 18).

The Automobile Club de l’Ouest, along with the FIA and World Endurance Championship, made the decision to postpone due to the coronavirus outbreak and current restrictions in France and across the globe.

“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,” Pierre Fillon, president of the Automobile Club de l’Ouest, said in a release.

“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 organizers – it is time to pull together, more than ever before”

As a result of the postponement, the FIA WEC, European Le Mans Series, Michelin Le Mans Cup and Ligier European Series schedules will need to be revised.

“It is the right decision to delay in light of the current situation,” Gerard Neveu, CEO of FIA, WEC, and ELMS, said. “We are now working on revising our WEC and ELMS calendars for the remainder of this season, and for the WEC’s Season 9, which was due to start in September 2020. We will come back to you in the coming days with more news for both the FIA World Endurance Championship and the European Le Mans Series.”

Schedule information about all the series, as well as the 24 Hours of Le Mans will be announced at a later date.

About the author

Joy joined Frontstretch in 2019 as a NASCAR DraftKings writer, expanding to news and iRacing coverage in 2020. She's currently an assistant editor and involved with photos, social media and news editing. A California native, Joy was raised as a motorsports fan and started watching NASCAR extensively in 2001. She earned her B.A. degree in Liberal Studies at California State University Bakersfield in 2010.

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