2020 Le Mans 24 Hours postponed until September

Le Mans News

Coronavirus measures are affecting summer races, as the 2020 Le Mans 24 Hours is postponed to September

2019 Le Mans 24 Hours shot

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This year’s Le Mans 24 Hour race has been postponed by three months, and will now be held in September, as a measure to prevent the spread of coronavirus.

The race, which had been scheduled to run on 13-14 June, is one of the first in the summer calendar to be affected by the outbreak.

Its new date of 19-20 September, will extend the current World Endurance Championship (WEC) to almost 13 months, from the first race in Silverstone last year.

The change will add four hours of night driving to the race, with the sun setting at around 7pm, rather than 9pm in June. First light will be at 6.15am, compared with 4.20am in June.

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“Postponing the 24 Hours of Le Mans 2020, originally scheduled for 13-14 June, is the appropriate solution in face of the exceptional health circumstances that we are all going through today, said Pierre Fillon, President of the ACO, which organises the race and WEC championship. “It goes without saying that we will make every effort to ensure the safety and quality of our events.

“Today it is a question of stopping the spread of this virus. I would also like to spare warm thoughts for all the medical personnel working to protect our health.”

The change will delay the start of next season, and the introduction of the new hypercar class. Silverstone was supposed to host the opening race on 5 September.

Gérard Neveu, CEO of FIA WEC and ELMS: “It is the right decision to delay in light of the current situation. We are now working on revising our WEC, ELMS, Michelin Le Mans Cup and Ligier European Series 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.”