The FIA World Rally Championship (WRC) has decided to postpone Rally Argentina after the Government decision to contain COVID-19 outbreak.
With events around the world being impacted, WRC joins the list with its first event being postponed after the decision made by Government decision. While it goes ahead with Rally Mexico this weekend, the Argentina round won’t happen on April 23-26 date.
It was already a new date for the hosts after Rally Chile was cancelled. Naturally, for now, no date is set for the event to take place and as things stands, WRC will move from Chile to Portugal on May 21-24 for Round 4 of the 2020 season.
Here’s the full statement from WRC:
“The Government of the Argentine Republic today announced measures to prevent the spread of the virus. Following the direction of the Cordoba provincial government, the decision was taken with the unanimous agreement of WRC Promoter, the FIA and event organiser Automovil Club Argentino (ACA).
WRC Promoter managing director Oliver Ciesla said: “We understand the priority of the authorities in Argentina to prevent the further spread of this virus in their country, in particular via events where large numbers of people come together. We regret the postponement and all parties will work closely together to identify a potential new date for the event.”
“Carlos Garcia Remohi, president of the ACA Sports Commission said: “It is disappointing but we are facing a world problem that exceeds us and we understand that today we have to protect everyone’s health.”
Rally general co-ordinator David Eli said: “We deeply regret having to make this decision for the SpeedAgro Rally Argentina. But today, the priority is to preserve the health and well-being of the competitors, teams, members of the organisation and the fans that always join the rally. We hope to be able to celebrate our 40th edition soon.”
WRC Promoter and FIA continue to monitor the situation regarding other future rounds of the FIA World Rally Championship.”
Here’s last news on Rally Chile and Rally Argentina
Here’s Argentina MotoGP race postpone news