WRC has altered dates of Rally Italia Sardegna due to F1 Emilia Romagna GP, while Bahrain GP has forced a change in the WEC calendar too.
WRC:
The F1 grand prix at Imola on October 30 – November 1 has forced WRC to change the date of Rally Italia Sardenga, which will now be held three weeks earlier than its already revised fixture of the same date as the Emilia Romagna GP.
The change in Rally Italia Sardegna to October 8-11 date is made possible to the cancellation of Rally Germany because of COVID-19 restrictions. The German WRC rally was supposed to take place on October 15-18.
“In ACI we have worked hard to redefine the new dates for the 2020 Rally Italia Sardegna,” said Angelo Sticchi Damiani. “It has not been easy to find the right days which could accomodate the needs of all stakeholders and could work well for the region of Sardinia.
“In this very difficult year ACI has wanted, as already shown with the F1 GPs in Monza, Mugello and Imola, to protect national and international motorsport by confirming also our competition. I personally thank the region of Sardinia for their absolute support to make all this happen.”
The 2020 WRC season will, thus, resume after the COVID-19 break with Rally Estonia on September 4-6 with Rally Turkey next on September 18-20, followed by Rally Italia Sardegna on October 8-11 and Ypres Rally on November 19-22.
WEC:
On the other side, after the F1 announced couple of races in Bahrain in late November and December, it became clear that there will be scheduling conflicts, as seen with WRC but even on WEC front, who were to run their endurance race around a similar time.
In response to the F1 news, WEC brought forward their finale – the 8 hours of Bahrain – by a week, with the event to take place on November 14, 2020 as opposed to the original date of November 21, which would have been only 6 days from the start of the first of the two F1 weekends.
Gerard Neveu, CEO of the WEC, said: “As we stated very clearly when we announced our revised calendar in April, dates were subject to further change according to the evolution of the current health crisis, or because of the calendars of other FIA World Championships.
“We are very fortunate that Bahrain International Circuit is ready and willing to be so accommodating and, indeed, welcoming to the WEC in what will be an extremely busy period for them. It is, of course, less fortunate that the date now clashes with IMSA’s Twelve Hours of Sebring, but the compressed racing schedules in the second half of the year have been brought about due to an unprecedented situation and we believe there will be minimal impact on both series.
“Our overriding concern continues to be for everyone’s good health, and we are taking as many precautions as possible to ensure that we can all experience a happy and healthy end to Season 8.”
Here’s the last WRC news on Ypres Rally
Here’s how WEC Spa event went