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TheCOVID-19 pandemic caused disruption tomotorsport across the world,mirroring its impact across all sports. Across the world and to varying degrees, events and competitions were cancelled or postponed. Motorsport UK - the governing body for the sport in the UK - announced in March that no sanctioned events would take place until May before extending that to the end of June, due to the UK's lockdown following the spread of COVID-19.
TheSupercars Championship had planned to hold theMelbourne 400 supporting the Australian Grand Prix. The event was cancelled the same time the Grand Prix was also cancelled. Although the Championship were seeking to hold a replacement event later in the year,[1] it was ultimately not made up. The Supercars'Tasmania Super400 atSymmons Plains Raceway (originally scheduled for 4–5 April), theAuckland Super400 at Hampton Downs (25–26 April), and thePerth SuperNight atWanneroo Raceway (16–17 May) rounds were also postponed beyond June.[2] The pandemic saw23Red Racing withdraw from the championship as its primary sponsor,Milwaukee Tools, ended its deal with the team.
A revised calendar was released on 17 May, with the events at Gold Coast and Newcastle dropped from the calendar and a second race at Bathurst to be held in February 2021. As well, theMelbourne 400 will still count as a round because practice and qualifying had taken place before the event was cancelled. After a second revision on 19 June, the second Bathurst round was reassigned to be part of the 2021 season (replacing theIntercontinental GT Challenge round at Bathurst cancelled because of international travel restrictions), with the Sydney SuperNight round being restored and acting as the season finale. Further revisions saw rounds at Winton, Sandown, Symmons Plains, Wanneroo and the Sydney SuperNight being cancelled, and theBathurst 1000 now becoming the finale.
Supercars formed theAll Stars Eseries to allow its drivers to compete against each other.[3]
TheDeutsche Tourenwagen Masters series postponed the start of its championship until August 2020.[4] The Norisring round, which was scheduled on 10–12 July, was cancelled because of the difficulties of assembling the infrastructure required for a street circuit and impossibility to be held behind closed doors.[5]
On March 12, theNational Hot Rod Association suspended itsseason[6] while some sportsman classes were already contesting theAmalie Motor Oil NHRA Gatornationals; the sportsman classes already active at that time would finish their runs behind closed doors, while the professional and remaining sportsman classes were sent home.[7]
The season schedule was revised several times during the suspension,[8] with the season eventually being shortened to eleven events from the original twenty-four; the Countdown to the Championship was scrapped for the season amid the first bouts of the rescheduling. As a result of these changes, with the current schedule revealed as of September 2,Las Vegas saw its two events consolidated into one (which, after the September 2 schedule revisions, became the season finale) withPomona also reduced to a single race (held prior to the pandemic); theVirginia NHRA Nationals,Summit Racing Equipment NHRA Nationals,Route 66 NHRA Nationals,NHRA Sonoma Nationals,MagicDry Organic Absorbent NHRA Northwest Nationals, andNHRA New England Nationals were removed from the schedule for the season in the earliest schedule modifications; and three additional events were announced in two bursts forLucas Oil Raceway to relaunch the season from July 11 in order to initially compensate for cancelled events.[9][10] TheDodge Mile-High NHRA Nationals andLucas Oil NHRA Nationals were subsequently postponed on July 17, in conjunction with the third additional event at Lucas Oil Raceway added to the former's original dates;[10] theMenards NHRA Heartland Nationals would also subsequently be postponed on July 29,[11] followed by the cancellation of theSouthern Nationals on August 10[12] and theMopar Express Lane NHRA Nationals on August 17.[13] Further schedule revisions on September 2 saw the schedule reduced further, with the three postponed events that were awaiting rescheduling as well asboth Charlotte events (which had initially been consolidated to a single event in earlier schedule revisions), theThunder Valley Nationals (for logistics reasons), and technically, the otherLas Vegas Motor Speedway round (the Las Vegas round, known as the Dodge NHRA Vegas Nationals, was officially cancelled). TheNHRA Finals at Pomona was legally moved to the Las Vegas meeting, which is known as the Dodge NHRA Finals (sponsors kept their contracts, but the 2020 Las Vegas race belongs to the World Finals lineage).[14] leaving six previously scheduled events including the rescheduled aforementioned Gatornationals to finish out the season.
The rescheduling has created an event-name related oddity, in that theMopar Express Lane NHRA SpringNationals have retained its name for the season despite now being scheduled for the weekend after theAAA NHRA Fall Nationals in October.[14]
Despite the pandemic, the NHRA was able to host all races were held with spectators in attendance.
The NHRA then announced the2021 NHRA season would start at theGatornationals in March, with the sanctioning body moving the Winternationals and Arizona Nationals to April, hoping that spectator restrictions will be eased by that time. On 15 January 2021, the NHRA announced that theWild Horse Pass Motorsports Park round would be moved to another venue to be determined. On 16 March 2021, the NHRA announced theAuto Club Raceway at Pomona Winternationals was postponed. On 5 May 2021, the NHRA postponed the round atVirginia Motorsports Park while restoring the round atBristol Dragway, which moves from June (a date clash with the NASCAR weekend inGladeville, TN) to October. On 14 May 2021, withKing County, Washington restrictions still questionable,Pacific Raceways was removed, with theLucas Oil Winternationals moving to the August date.
Since 2023, the NHRA changes have become permanent. Gainesville starts the season.
The early2020 Formula One season was disrupted by the coronavirus pandemic.[15] Prior to the start of the season,Ferrari andAlphaTauri expressed concern about the spread of the virus and its effect on the championship. Both teams are based in Italy, which has sufferedone of the worst outbreaks of the virus outside China,[16][17] and so both Ferrari and AlphaTauri were therefore concerned over the ability of their staff to leave a quarantine zone that was established in northern Italy.Ross Brawn, the managing director of the sport, announced that Grands Prix would not go ahead if a team were blocked from entering a host nation, but that events could go ahead if a team voluntarily chose not to enter a host nation.[18]
Theseason openingAustralian race was abruptly cancelled shortly before the start of the first free practice session, while theMonaco andFrench races were eventually cancelled.[19][20][21] The cancellation of the Monaco Grand Prix meant that 2020 would mark the first time since1954 that the race has not been held. TheAzerbaijan,Bahrain,Canadian,Dutch,Spanish andVietnamese Grands Prix were postponed, while theChinese Grand Prix had already been postponed prior to the pandemic.[20][22][23][24] The Dutch Grand Prix would eventually be cancelled on 28 May, the Azerbaijan Grand Prix would eventually be cancelled on 12 June, along withSingapore (due to logistical difficulties associated with establishing astreet circuit on short notice) andJapanese (due to travel restrictions by Japanese government).[25] The Canadian Grand Prix would be cancelled on 24 July along with races inMexico,United States andBrazil due to the travel restrictions in theAmericas,[26] while the Spanish Grand Prix would be rescheduled to 16 August on 2 June. On 24 August, the Bahrain Grand Prix would be rescheduled to 29 November and the Chinese Grand Prix was cancelled. On 16 October, the Vietnamese Grand Prix was cancelled. Organizers of theAustrian,British andHungarian Grands Prix were the first to announce that their races could go ahead, but run without spectators and with teams staffed by minimal personnel.[27][28] The summer break shut down period—which includes mandatory factory closures as a cost-cutting measure—was also brought forward from August to March and April and was originally extended to three weeks, allowing for postponed races to be held in August.[29]
The sport had planned to overhaul its technical regulations for the2021 championship in one of the largest changes in its seventy-year history. The pandemic prompted these changes to be postponed until2022, with teams required to enter their2020 cars in the 2021 championship to minimise the financial stress placed on the teams.[30] The sport had also planned to introduce a $175 million budget cap in 2021, which was later revised to $150 million.[31] Teams called for further revisions to $100 million, arguing that the pandemic threatened the future of four of the ten teams.[32]
In March 2020, some Formula One drivers entered virtual versions of several[33] races dubbed "Not The GP".[34][35] The races were hosted byJean-Éric Vergne's Veloce Esports, in partnership with Formula One. The online races were contested by current and former Formula One drivers, likeLando Norris,Nicholas Latifi,Stoffel Vandoorne,Esteban Gutiérrez,Emerson Fittipaldi,Nico Hülkenberg,Johnny Herbert andMartin Brundle, as well as celebrities and other sportsmen; Norris in particular, alongsideAlex Albon,George Russell, andCharles Leclerc, would spend most of the offseason livestreaming on Twitch.[citation needed] On 29 June 2020, ahead of the season opening race in Austria,McLaren took a loan of £150m from theNational Bank of Bahrain to mitigate the effect of coronavirus on the company.[36]
The first few races of therescheduled 2020 season, included theAustrian,Styrian,Hungarian and two Grands Prix atSilverstone, which all took place in "bio-secure" conditions behind closed doors.
A day prior to theBritish Grand Prix,Racing Point driverSergio Pérez was confirmed to have tested positive for the virus following an inconclusive result earlier in the day, ruling him out of the race.[37]Nico Hülkenberg was announced as his replacement for that race, and as well as the70th Anniversary Grand Prix the following weekend.
Williams was sold to Dorilton Capital due to financial pressures, ending family ownership of and involvement with the team.
Racing Point driverLance Stroll missed theEifel Grand Prix after falling ill, which was later diagnosed as COVID-19. He was replaced by Hülkenberg.Lawrence Stroll, owner of the Racing Point team and father of Lance, also tested positive.
On 30 November 2020, a day after winning the Bahrain Grand Prix, Drivers' ChampionLewis Hamilton announced that he had tested positive for COVID-19, claiming to have been experiencing "mild symptoms". During the week leading to the race, he underwent three tests, but all returned negative.Mercedes confirmed that Hamilton would miss theSakhir Grand Prix in Bahrain later that week as a result.[38] He was replaced byGeorge Russell from Williams who was in turn replaced byJack Aitken.
Prior to the beginning of the 2021 season, three more drivers – Norris,Charles Leclerc andPierre Gasly – and Mercedes team principalToto Wolff all tested positive for COVID-19 in separate occasions.[39][40][41][42] On the eve of pre-season testing at Bahrain,Alfa Romeo team principalFrédéric Vasseur tested positive for COVID-19, hence unable to accompany the team for testing.[43] Prior to theBritish Grand Prix, McLaren team principalZak Brown tested positive.[44]
In January 2021, more changes were made to the2021 Formula One World Championship, with the2021 Australian Grand Prix being postponed from 21 March all the way to 21 November. However, the event would be cancelled on 6 July 2021 for the second consecutive year due toAustralia's strict quarantine protocols and travel restrictions to the state ofVictoria, where it is held. The race was replaced with the inauguralQatar Grand Prix. TheChinese Grand Prix was postponed for the second consecutive year, and would be cancelled. The event was originally to run on 11 April.[45][46]
In response to this, two GPs would have to fill in the vacancies and F1 chose to run theEmilia Romagna Grand Prix on 18 April and thePortuguese Grand Prix on 2 May. These were announced in January and February 2021 respectively, just before the season started.[47]
Further with cancellations, theCanadian Grand Prix was cancelled for the second year running and was replaced by theTurkish Grand Prix. The original date for the GP was 13 June.[48] A month later on 14 May, the Turkish Grand Prix was postponed due to travel restrictions,[49] before being reinstated onto the calendar after the Singapore Grand Prix was subsequently cancelled for another consecutive year.[50][51] The schedule was changed so that the2021 French Grand Prix would be moved up a week from 27 June to 20 June, and that theStyrian Grand Prix would take its original slot. TheAustrian Grand Prix took place on its original date of 4 July.[52] The Japanese Grand Prix was then announced on August 18 cancelled for a second consecutive year.[53]
TheBahrain andBarcelona rounds of theFIA Formula 2 andFormula 3 Championships—a series of races for junior drivers that run in support of Formula 1 events—were postponed when the Bahrain and Spanish Grands Prix were postponed.[54][55] TheMonaco andZandvoort Formula 2 rounds were cancelled when the Monaco and Dutch Grands Prix were cancelled and theBaku round cancelled when the Azerbaijan Grand Prix was cancelled.[55][56] The Yas Marina round, which was scheduled to supportAbu Dhabi Grand Prix was cancelled due to maximum slot for the calendar as an impact of the pandemic. Formula 3 had not been scheduled to race in Monaco or Azerbaijan, but the Dutch round was also cancelled, along with Russia and Bahrain due to maximum slot for the calendar as an impact of the pandemic.
TheFormula E championship for electric cars initially responded to the pandemic by postponing theRome andSanya ePrix. Planned races inParis,Jakarta andSeoul were also postponed, prompting organisers to postpone the entire season by two months.[57][58][59]
On 17 June it was announced that the series would finish at theTempelhof Airport Street Circuit with three double headers on three different layouts in August, and that the races in Rome, Sanya, Paris, Jakarta, Seoul, New York and London have been cancelled.[citation needed]
The 3 Hours of Monza round of the2020 GT World Challenge Europe Endurance Cup, scheduled for 19 April, was cancelled.[60]
In wake of the Rudy Gobert and NBA situation, theIndyCar Series initially announced on 12 March that it would hold theGrand Prix of St. Petersburg — the opening race of the2020 season — behind closed doors.[61] On 13 March in respect of the NBA suspension, the series announced that it would cancel all races through at least the end of April, including St. Petersburg,Alabama,Long Beach, andAustin. IndyCar intended to begin the season with the traditional "Month of May" races atIndianapolis Motor Speedway, including theGMR Grand Prix (held on IMS's road course configuration), and the104th running of theIndianapolis 500 on its traditionalMemorial Day Sunday date.[62] IndyCar formed the IndyCar iRacing Challenge, with its drivers racing against one another on theiRacingracing simulation game.[63]
On 26 March, IndyCar announced that it would postpone the two Indianapolis races to later in the season—moving the GMR Grand Prix to theFourth of July assupport for theNASCAR Cup Series'Brickyard 400 (and creating a rare NASCAR/IndyCar double-header with theXfinity Series'Pennzoil 150),[64][65] and the 500 to 23 August—marking the first time in history that it has not been held in May. Therefore, the season was to tentatively begin with theDetroit Grand Prix. The Grand Prix of St. Petersburg was reinstated as the planned season finale, with a date to be determined.[66] On 6 April, IndyCar announced that the Detroit Grand Prix had been canceled. To make up for other canceled races, it was announced that a third race at Indianapolis (theIndyCar Harvest GP, a second race on the track's road course) would be added to the schedule in October, and that theIowa 300 andMonterey Grand Prix would become twin race weekends with two points-paying races each.[67]
On 7 May, IndyCar officially announced that the season would begin 6 June with theGenesys 300 atTexas Motor Speedway, with races held with limited spectators (only those that owned units in the Turn 2 Lone Star Tower were allowed to attend the race, a practice that began at theNASCAR weekend in Charlotte that is also owned by Sonic Automotive) and with enhanced safety protocols until further notice. To accommodate same-day qualifying and practice, the race was shortened from its usual 248-lap (600 kilometer) distance to 200 laps (300 miles). Although circuit president Eddie Gossage originally insisted that he would not allow the race to be held unless as support for a NASCAR event (the postponed March NASCAR tripleheader was rescheduled for July), he later came to terms with new series ownerRoger Penske. The NASCAR Gander RV & Outdoors Truck Series race scheduled after the originally scheduled Friday qualifying of the INDYCAR weekend was postponed to October 25, becoming part of the Cup Series Texas 500 race day and allowing spectators.[68] On 21 May, IndyCar announced the cancellation of theHonda Indy Toronto andIndy Richmond 300 events due to local restrictions, and that theREV Group Grand Prix at Road America would become a twin-race weekend and assume Toronto's date on the schedule.[69]
On 1 June, IndyCar announced that the 2020 season of its developmentalIndy Lights circuit had been scrapped because of logistics and a lack of entries.[70] On 8 June, Penske stated his preference for the Indianapolis 500 to not be held behind closed doors, and that he would be willing to delay the event to October ifstate restrictions are not sufficiently loosened by August.[71][72] On 26 June, IndyCar and IMS announced that the 500 would be held with spectators, limited to half of its normal capacity.[73] This was later changed to 25 percent capacity, then to behind closed doors in a final announcement on 4 August.[74] By September, the Speedway announced there would be up to 10,000 tickets available for spectators for the third series meeting, the Harvest Classic, seated in the grandstands in the Snake Pit section and Turn 1 of the road course.
For 2021, IndyCar moved street races again because of the pandemic, and a related date change was also made because of it. The St. Petersburg race was moved from 7 March to 25 April and theGrand Prix of Long Beach from 18 April to 26 September because of, respectively, attendance restrictions and astay-at-home order. TheGrand Prix of Alabama atBarber Motorsports Park, originally set for 25 April, was announced as the new season opener on 11 April. With Long Beach moved, INDYCAR andNBC Sports moved that round back a week to 18 April, to avoid the season opener from being up against the final round ofgolf's Masters Tournament that is held inAugusta, Georgia, which is 375 km east ofLeeds, Alabama via Interstate 20.
On 14 May, theHonda Indy Toronto was cancelled by officials.[75] IndyCar intended to replace this race, but for the premiership NTT IndyCar Series ended up not doing so; therefore, the series now has a four-week break planned from the beginning of July to the beginning of August. TheRoad to Indy support races as part of the Honda Indy Toronto were moved toMid-Ohio Sports Car Course in October as its own standalone date.
On 21 April, it was announced that the2021 Indianapolis 500 would be capped at 135,000 fans, or roughly 40% capacity.[76] The sold-out event became the largest sporting event since the Pandemic had begun in March, 2020.[77]
TheMotoGP World Championship cancelled the opening round of the 2020 championship inQatar. TheMoto2 andMoto3 support categories raced in the country, as the teams were already in Qatar for their final preseason test before the quarantine measures were put in place. Planned events in Thailand, the United States, and Argentina were also postponed, but were initially rescheduled to 4 October, 15 and 22 November respectively (The United States round was cancelled entirely on 8 July). The races at Jerez, Le Mans, and Catalunya were also postponed, but later rescheduled to 19 July (with a second round to be held on 26 July), 27 September, and 11 October respectively, while the Mugello, Sachensring, Assen, Silverstone, Phillip Island, Motegi, Kymi Ring, Termas de Rio Hondo, Circuit of The Americas, Sepang, and Buriram rounds were removed.[78]
The pandemic forced the calendar to be rescheduled. On 11 June, the season is to contain 5 "double-headers" on consecutive weekends at Jerez (with the second round under the name ofAndalusian Grand Prix), Austria (with the second round under the name ofStyrian Grand Prix), Misano (with the second round under the name ofEmilia-Romagna Grand Prix), Aragon (with the second round under the name ofTeruel Grand Prix), and Valencia (with the first round under the name ofEuropean Grand Prix and revived since1995) to achieve a minimum of 13 races.[79] On 10 August, the season finale would see the return of thePortuguese Grand Prix since2012 at theAlgarve International Circuit,[80] making the Valencia round, which had been the season finale since2002, the penultimate round for the 2020 season.
There were 4 riders that missed races due to testing positive for the virus or coming into close contact with individuals who were infected by the virus. In mid-September, Moto2 riderJorge Martín missed bothMisano rounds, becoming the first rider in all classes who to test positive for the virus.[81] For thesecond Misano round he was replaced byMattia Pasini. In mid-October,Valentino Rossi missed bothAragon rounds due to testing positive for theSARS-CoV-2 virus, becoming the first premier class rider to test positive.[82] Histeam decided not to field a replacement for him before theTeruel round, deciding to only field his teammate,Maverick Viñales.[83] As Rossi missed the race (along with defending championMarc Márquez who was absent since theAndalusian Grand Prix due to his crash at theprevious round), the first Aragon race marked the first time since1999 at Rio de Janeiro when no current or former premier class Champion lined up on the grid.[84] In the Moto3 class at the same venue,Tony Arbolino, despite testing negative for COVID-19, was forced to miss the Aragon Grand Prix as he had come into close contact with an infected passenger on his flight after the French Grand Prix and was required to self-isolate as a result. He was not replaced for that event and was back to racing at the Teruel Grand Prix.[85] In early November, three days before theEuropean Grand Prix atValencia, Tech3 riderIker Lecuona was forced to sit out of the race, due toAndorran quarantine rules for close contact with individuals who tested positive for the SARS-CoV-2 virus. His brother – with whom he lived in Andorra – and his personal assistant both tested positive for the virus on 3 November, meaning Lecuona was forced into a mandatory quarantine of 10 days minimum. Tech3 elected not to replace him on such short notice.[86] Lecuona also missed the Valencian Grand Prix after he subsequently tested positive for the virus shortly before the beginning of the race weekend, and subsequently the Portuguese Grand Prix on the following weekend.[87] KTM factory test riderMika Kallio replaced Lecuona in Portugal.[88] Lecuona became the second premier class rider who has missed races because of isolation.
TheMonster Energy AMA Supercross Series postponed its scheduled race card atLucas Oil Stadium inIndianapolis just before it was to occur on 14 March. On 25 March, officials announced the postponement of six more events.[89] The cards – consisting of the 450cc class and one of two 250cc classes each – were rescheduled for seven consecutive dates between 31 May and 21 June. All of them occurred behind closed doors atRice-Eccles Stadium inSalt Lake City,Utah.[90]
The Supercross All Star event,Monster Energy Cup, was scheduled for 10 October atDignity Health Sports Park for the first time in history after being in Las Vegas atSam Boyd Stadium for the first 9 year of the event. It was removed on 30 July because there was not enough time between the outdoor motocross nationals and the event for rides to rest and train for the event.
The 2021 Supercross schedule was announced in December 2020, and in keeping with continued ramifications of the pandemic, nearly the entire schedule was held in just six locations. Each stop, except for Salt Lake City, featured three races (Salt Lake City only had two races). Of the five areas, four had a split Saturday-Tuesday-Saturday schedule (Houston,Indianapolis,Arlington,Hampton). The fifth area with a stop, Central Florida, featured two consecutive Saturdays with races inOrlando before a week off to be followed bythe Daytona Beach stop (which is promoted by NASCAR, not Feld Entertainment). Atlanta Motor Speedway became the fourth different Atlanta metropolitan venue to host Supercross.[91] For the first time since Supercross began, no races were held in California.
The Lucas Oil Pro Motocross Championship original schedule for 2020 contested of 12 rounds starting in late May and ending in late August. The number of events was reduced to nine rounds at seven venues. TheLoretta Lynn's Amateur Championship was added as a result of the pandemic, with two rounds of professional motocross at the said event, andRed Bud MX also had 2 rounds of racing due to the pandemic.
In the wake of the Rudy Gobert and NBA situation on the Wednesday of the2020 Folds of Honor QuikTrip 500 week that was scheduled to be held starting Friday, part of the2020 NASCAR Cup Series,NASCAR announced that the events would be held behind closed doors; this event, along with theDixie Vodka 400 atHomestead-Miami Speedway, were later postponed in respect of the NBA.[92] On 16 March, NASCAR announced that all race events through 3 May were postponed, however they still intend to run all 36 races for the season.[93] On 17 April, NASCAR announced that it had postponed theBlue-Emu Maximum Pain Relief 500 (9 May atMartinsville Speedway), but that they still intend to run a full schedule of 36 races.[94] NASCAR began to organize invitationaleSports events oniRacing, theeNASCAR iRacing Pro Invitational Series.[95]
On 30 April 2020, NASCAR announced that it would resume races in a modified schedule, with seven events across its three national series (including two Cup Series doubleheaders, andXfinity Series andGander RV & Outdoors Truck Series events) atDarlington Raceway andCharlotte Motor Speedway from 17 to 27 May.[96] NASCAR stated that it still planned to run its full schedule of races, but that where events would be held beyond these May races was subject to change, with a tentative plan to focus primarily on "classic" tracks in theSoutheastern United States (within driving distance of Charlotte—where the majority of NASCAR staff and teams are based).[96] NASCAR announced the next set of races on 14 May (through late-June), formally cancelling originally scheduled races in late-May and early-June, and shifting postponed or rescheduled events in their place atBristol Motor Speedway (Bristol, Tennessee),Atlanta Motor Speedway, Martinsville, Homestead-Miami, andTalladega Superspeedway.[97] On 2 June, NASCAR announced the third phase of the revised schedule through early-August, including a mid-weekNASCAR All-Star Race on 15 July at Bristol (as part of a double-header with the NASCAR-ownedARCA Menards Series), and a Thursday race atKansas Speedway.[98]
The Cup Series returned with the 56th running, and first since November 2004, ofThe Real Heroes 400 on 17 May (in support of The Real Heroes Project—a collaboration of U.S. sports leagues honoring front line health care workers),[99][100] followed by a rare Wednesday-night race (the first since the1984 Firecracker 400), theToyota 500 (km) on 20 May (the first scheduled 300-mile Cup Series race since 1963 at the circuit).[101] The Xfinity Series returned on 19 May with theToyota 200, while all three series raced their regularly scheduledMemorial Day weekend events atCharlotte Motor Speedway. In the Cup Series, this included two events — the 61st running of theCoca-Cola 600 on Sunday, and the 500 kilometerAlsco Uniforms 500 on the following Wednesday.[96]
The first wave of races was held mostly behind closed doors with only essential staff present and team sizes capped at 16, physical distancing requirements for garages and spotters, additional protective equipment for drivers and pit crew members, random temperature checks and removal of symptomatic team members, and requiring teams to performcontact tracing logs. Charlotte and Atlanta opened the races to frontstretch condominium owners, who could each offer five guests. To reduce on-track activity, all events are being held without qualifying or practice sessions (excluding the Coca-Cola 600, which used same-day qualifying, and the Pennzoil 150 Xfinity race, which had Friday practice as theIndianapolis Motor Speedway moved the event to the road course as part of an INDYCAR doubleheader), and starting order was initially determined by either a random draw, divided into segments of the owners' points standings as of that race, for single race meetings, and for the second race in the same meeting, the finishing order from the previous race with the top 20 inverted. Similar to rules used when rain cleaned the rubber off the circuit between the last session and the race, refueling of cars was prohibited until a predetermined safety car situation ("competition caution") at a specific lap (between lap 10 on road courses to lap 50 on short tracks) announced during the conference call that drivers, crew chiefs, and officials participated during the week that replaced the competitors' meeting held on race morning. Some Truck Series races did not use them because of their shorter lengths. The safety car situation was used in order to allow for extended adjustments of vehicles. If a safety car is called before the predetermined lap, refueling was still prohibited until the predetermined lap safety car, unless NASCAR determines they are within enough laps to allow for the rule to be cleared.[102]
Starting in August with the Daytona road course round, NASCAR launched a new procedure based on performance. The new procedure is a three-pronged, weighted system formula taking into account the team owners' current place in the points standings, drivers' previous race finish, and drivers' fastest lap in the previous race. The driver with the lowest total number is awarded the pole, the second-lowest starts on the outside of the front row, and so on.[103]
After four weeks, and six races had been conducted with only the Charlotte and Atlanta races having limited spectators in condominiums on the circuit, NASCAR announced on 9 June that invited guests will be admitted at theDixie Vodka 400 in Homestead. Homestead featured 1,000 members of the U.S. military from the South Florida area (representingUnited States Southern Command and theHomestead Air Reserve Base). TheGEICO 500 at Talladega was the first round to feature paid spectators, with a limit of 5,000 spectators combined in the grandstands and backstretch camping, featuring priority to local ticketholders. The ARCA Menards Series General Tire 200 and NASCAR Xfinity Series Unhinged 300 support races were the first to admit paying spectators, as backstretch campers were allowed to stage on track to watch all three races. NASCAR procedure would be only Cup Series races would have grandstands open, while support series races would have selected camping areas (initially outside the circuit overlooking the circuit, but later adjusted at some races to allow selected infield campgrounds) open.[104]
On 3 July,Jimmie Johnson reported that he had tested positive for COVID-19 (the first NASCAR driver to do so), requiring him to useJustin Allgaier as a substitute driver for that weekend'sBig Machine Hand Sanitizer 400. That turned out to be crucial, as Johnson, who had been scheduled to start sixth, would miss the playoff cut by six points.[105] Johnson was asymptomatic, and was cleared on 8 July after two further tests came back negative.[106] On 15 August,Austin Dillon became the second Cup Series driver to reveal a positive test, and as a result he missed theDaytona Grand Prix. Unlike Johnson, Dillon had already secured a playoff spot by winning theO'Reilly Auto Parts 500 at Texas the month before.[107]
On 8 July, NASCAR announced the remaining schedule of races through the end of the regular season in late-August, including twin races atDover International Speedway andMichigan International Speedway (both held on their regularly scheduled dates, but with a Saturday rescheduled race each) that would both be 500-kilometer races, and the race atWatkins Glen International being replaced by inaugural road course races at Daytona due to New York state travel restrictions. NASCAR stated that more upcoming races may be held with spectators on a case-by-case basis depending on local health orders, with Texas Motor Speedway (50% capacity for Cup only in grandstands, backstretch camping open for all races),New Hampshire Motor Speedway (19,000), and both Daytona races (about 20,000 for Cup only, some infield camping was allowed) planning to do so. Of these races, Kansas, Dover, and Michigan were held behind closed doors.[108][109] The2020 NASCAR All-Star Race was held at Bristol Motor Speedway on 15 July instead of in Charlotte so that it could host limited spectators. Twenty-two thousand spectators attended of a potential 30,000, or approximately 20% of the venue's total capacity of 162,000, seats available. It was the largest number of spectators at any U.S. sporting event since the beginning of pandemic restrictions.[110]
On 6 August, NASCAR filled out the rest of its 2020 season. The schedule for the playoffs in the Cup Series saw no change in the order of races or the tracks on which they ran. With two races still to be made up because of previous cancellations, the Xfinity Series playoff opener was delayed one week, starting with theAlsco 300 atLas Vegas Motor Speedway. A second race was added at Talladega, theAg-Pro 300, which was in the playoff. The truck series playoff schedule included the rescheduled INDYCAR weekend race atTexas Motor Speedway (Texas and INDYCAR agreed to remove all support races for that weekend, which was held on its regularly scheduled weekend) and a third race atKansas Speedway. The first two races were to be atWorld Wide Technology Raceway at Gateway (which kept its date, like Texas part of the INDYCAR weekend and logistics made it part of the regular season) andCanadian Tire Motorsports Park (removed because of travel restrictions by the Canadian government; the same restrictions forced Canadian-based MLB, NBA, and MLS teams to move their games to the United States for the season and part of next season as well, along with all Canadian National Hockey League teams were put in one division for the 2021 season, as well as cancelling the INDYCAR race in Toronto) Changes to the regular season include a second Xfinity Series race atRichmond Raceway (had been originally removed for a Martinsville Speedway race) and the Truck Series returned to Darlington for the first time since 2011, while Richmond, which had originally been set for the cancelled April Cup meeting, was moved to the September race meeting.[111]
During the playoffs, tickets were available for the races at Darlington (8,000 spectators; first meeting of two Cup races behind closed doors), Bristol (hosted about 20,000 spectators of possible 30,000 at non-championship meeting; first championship meeting behind closed doors), Charlotte (7,500 seats), Kansas (8,400 seats), Talladega (which hosted 5,000 in the June meeting), Texas (about 50% capacity, or 50,000 seats; hosted July meeting with spectators), Martinsville (1,000, first meeting was behind closed doors),[112] and Phoenix (about 20% capacity, or 8,400 seats). The Richmond and Las Vegas races were behind closed doors; the first date at the latter track was held before the pandemic, and only began admitting spectators for the relocated NHRA World Finals at its drag strip from 30 October to 1 November. Bristol announced a legal sellout of its 30,000 available seats on 9 September, ten days before the scheduled race date. Charlotte also had oversold tickets and has a legal sellout. Initially, all support races were held behind closed doors, but Bristol and Charlotte allowed spectators for their Xfinity races, and Texas allowed spectators for the Truck race as it was the undercard on the same day as the Cup race. All support races permitted spectators by October, as Texas, Talladega, and Kansas allowed spectators in recreational vehicles parked in lots overlooking the track or some infield sections for camping access to races where grandstands were closed.[113]
NASCAR announced the2021 Cup Series schedule on 30 September, the2021 Xfinity Series schedule on 30 October, and the2021 Camping World Truck series schedule on 19 November. Some of its race dates were originally introduced during the pandemic, specifically the spring meeting at Darlington for all three top series. The Talladega playoff race was added for the second consecutive year for the Xfinity Series (it was removed at the end of the 2022 season, but returned in 2024). Also, NASCAR kept pandemic restrictions in place by announcing only eight weekends would feature a full slate of practice and qualifying, which were theDaytona 500,Coca-Cola 600, the five weekends on new circuits or changed layouts (the March Bristol meeting, on dirt,Austin,Nashville,Road America,Indianapolis on the road course), and theNovember Phoenix championship round. All other meetings would use the pandemic format of no practice or qualifying with grids set by the competition formula implemented starting with the first August Daytona round. When the Bristol spring meeting qualifying was cancelled, NASCAR used the competition formula to determine the starting order, a permanent change from the traditional use of owner points.
The Daytona meeting carried a limit of about 30,000 of estimated 101,500 grandstand seats offered to spectators.[114] On 8 December 2020, it was announced thatAuto Club Speedway in California will not host a race for the Cup and Xfinity series in 2021 due to increasing California state restrictions, and will be replaced by theDaytona Grand Prix which will swap dates with theHomestead–Miami Speedway race for logistics reasons. All three national series will race at the Daytona Road Course, with the Truck Series race at Homestead replaced with the Daytona Road Course. The Cup race will expand from 235 miles to 400 km, while the Xfinity (300 km) and Truck (250 km) races will keep their distances from 2020.[115]
By May, circuits began removing attendance restrictions. The 62nd AnnualCoca-Cola 600 atCharlotte Motor Speedway will be the first circuit to allow a full allotment of spectators. Most circuits than announced grandstands would be fully open to spectators, with NASCAR announcing on 2 June 2021 the last of the circuits still restricted would be fully open, ending NASCAR's pandemic restrictions in grandstands.
On 15 May 2021, in the wake of INDYCAR and Formula One cancelling rounds in Canada, Fox Sports writer Bob Pockrass sent a Twitter message saying Camping World Truck Series teams were being prepared in caseCanadian Tire Motorsport Park (Mosport), in Bowmanville, Ontario, would have to be cancelled because of Canadian restrictions. Teams are expecting the fall-back plan to have the replacement race as part of theDarlington RacewayCook Out Southern 500 Cup Series Playoff round in September if that should happen. Darlington in 2020 held their Truck Series race during the afternoon of the Sunday evening race, and already has run theLiftKits4Less.com 200 in May there, which was part of the spring Throwback race weekend.[116] On 25 May 2021, NASCAR formally announced the Mosport race would move to Darlington.[117]
For2022, NASCAR returned to regular practice and qualifying sessions, with practice and qualifying groups determined by the metric introduced in 2020 as teams are assigned odd and even based on the metric score. If qualifying cannot be held for any reason, the qualifying metric will replace the traditional owner points-based system.[118]
On 12 March 2020, IMSA announced the postponement of the12 Hours of Sebring after a travel ban was imposed, which also cancelled the FIA World Endurance Championship 1000 miles or 8 Hours race to 11–14 November 2020, making it the final race of the season.[119]
Form 18–24 March, IMSA announced the postponement of Mid-Ohio to 25–27 September, cancellation of the Long Beach round when the INDYCAR meeting was cancelled, moving up Laguna Seca to 4–6 September, and Michelin Raceway to 14–17 October. The Laguna Seca date change was designed to allow teams in LMP2 or GTLM to attend the2020 24 Hours of Le Mans, which teams later declined.[120]
On 15 May, after NASCAR's announcement of their national series resumption, IMSA announced a plan to resume their series. ThePaul Revere 250 sportscar race at Daytona would be reinstated, while a second standard-distance three-hour meeting would be added in Sebring on consecutive weeks, with Daytona on 4 July and Sebring on 11 July. IMSA originally announced the events would be held behind closed doors,[121] but following the success of NASCAR organising events with spectators in June, opened both Florida races to paid spectators.[122]
On 25 June, IMSA announced the6 Hours of Watkins Glen was set for 3–6 September, theLime Rock Park round was set for 11–12 September, and the Laguna Seca round moved to 30 October 10 1 November.[123]
As NASCAR was forced to cancel its Watkins Glen round because of quarantine restrictions in New York state, IMSA announced likewise on 1 August that both the Watkins Glen and Lime Rock rounds would move to the Southeast. The 6 Hours was moved to Michelin Raceway in September, while the Northeast Grand Prix was moved toCharlotte Motor Speedway, which the circuit had not raced since the 1980s, to be held during the NASCARBank of America 400 weekend.[124]
IMSA was hit again in 2021 by more related changes. On April 7, 2021, theCanadian Tire Motorsports Park round was cancelled and shifted to Watkins Glen where the 6 Hours of The Glen would be featured with a standard round at Watkins Glen.
The2020 FIM Cross-Country Rallies World Championship season was cancelled.[125]
The 2021Africa Eco Race was cancelled due to health risks associated with the COVID-19 pandemic.[126]
Almost allTCR championships have been affected by the outbreak, resulting in complete calendar changes, race postponements and cancellations. These include:TCR Australia,TCR Asia Pacific Cup,TCR Germany,TCR UK,TCR Japan,TCR Italy,TCR Scandinavia,TCR Denmark,TCR Asia,TCR China,TCR Europe, andTC America.[127]
The1000 Miles of Sebring race was canceled because of travel restrictions.[128] The6 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps and the24 Hours of Le Mans were both postponed.[129][130] Both races were rescheduled to 13–14 August and 19–20 September respectively. For the first time in the event's history, the 24 Hours of Le Mans was heldwithout spectators.[131] Not only rescheduled races, the next season's of the championship in2021 will back to annual calendar as an effects of the pandemic.[132]
2020 season
The 2020 running ofRally Argentina,Rally Italia Sardegna andRally de Portugal were postponed,[133][134] with Portugal later announced to be cancelled.[135] TheSafari Rally inKenya,Rally Finland,Wales Rally GB andRally New Zealand were also cancelled.[136][137] The2020 Rally Mexico was shortened to allow competitors time to pack their equipment up and return to their headquarters in Europe before a series of travel bans were implemented.[138] TheWorld Rally Championship-2,World Rally Championship-3 andJunior World Rally Championship support categories were also affected by the postponements.
On 2 July a revised calendar was issued, with the addition of a new event in Estonia andRally Argentina being cancelled.[139] On 19 August it was announced that theYpres Rally ofBelgium would replaceRally Japan,[140] which that rally was cancelled because of international travel restrictions from Japanese government. But the event has been cancelled on 30 October due to evolution of the virus cases in Belgium.[141]
Rallye Deutschland, which was scheduled on 15–18 October, was cancelled due to extension of the large event gatherings ban until at least 31 October on late August. This cancellation led theItalian round to be rescheduled in order to avoid clash withEmilia-Romagna Grand Prix, which was scheduled for 31 October-1 November.[142] The cancellation marked the first time since 2009 that the Rally Deutschland will not held.
On 9 October,Rally Monza made WRC debut for the first time on 4–6 December to become season finale.[143]
2021 season
On 15 December 2020,Rally Sweden, which was scheduled for 11–14 February, was cancelled due torising virus cases in Sweden. The cancellation marked the first time since 2009 that the Rally Sweden will not held. The rally was later replaced byArctic Rally to ensure that a winter rally was included on the calendar.[144][145]
On 26 March,Rally Chile, which was scheduled for 9–12 September, was cancelled due to travel restrictions in Chile as an effects of the pandemic. The rally was later replaced byAcropolis Rally in Greece, which last held in 2013.[146]
On 7 September,Rally Japan, which was scheduled for the season finale on 11–14 November, was cancelled due to travel restrictions and state of emergency declaration by Japanese government. The rally was later replaced byRally Monza and become season finale for the second consecutive year.[147][148]
The opening rounds of the2020 FIA World Rallycross Championship inBarcelona andPortugal were postponed.[149][150] The calendar of the World RX is rescheduled on May and started on 22–23 August atSweden. The rescheduled calendar has removedNorway,Portugal,[151]France,[152]Benelux,[153]Germany,[154]Abu Dhabi,[155] andSouth Africa, which that rounds has been cancelled due to evolution of the virus cases involving European countries and travel restrictions involving Abu Dhabi and South Africa.[156] The rescheduled calendar also returning theFinland round, which last held in 2014 season to replace French round.[157]
The opening rounds of the2020 World Touring Car Cup inHungary andGermany were postponed.[158][159][160] The four races that would have been held across the two rounds were rescheduled to 17–18 October and 24–25 September respectively.
The 2020Isle of Man TT andScottish Six Days Trial were cancelled.[161][162][163] The 2020North West 200 event was postponed[164] and subsequently cancelled.[165]
All British motorsport, including theBritish Touring Car Championship,[166] theBritish GT Championship,[167] and theBritcarEndurance andTrophy Championships.[168] were postponed until July 2020.[169]One of the national level championship that has been cancelled wasBritish Rally Championship. The event has been cancelled despite only one event held. This was the third cancellation of the history and the second cancellation for the same reason byepidemic since 2001.[170]
Monster Jam events in multiple localities were affected. Shows inAustin, Texas,Baton Rouge, Louisiana,Cincinnati,Ohio,Detroit,Michigan,Grand Rapids, Michigan, andHidalgo, Texas were postponed; and shows inAlbuquerque, New Mexico,Columbus, Ohio,Colorado Springs, Colorado,Denver,Colorado,Columbia, South Carolina,Des Moines, Iowa,Evansville, Indiana,Green Bay, Wisconsin,Hamilton, Ontario,Huntsville, Alabama,Kansas City, Missouri, andVancouver were cancelled.[171]On 27 March 2020,World Finals XXI, scheduled to take place 2–3 May 2020, was canceled.[172]
Hot Wheels Monster Trucks Live postponed a show inLouisville, Kentucky.[173]
Monster X Tour postponed its World Finals event inHonolulu,Hawaii.[174]
Despite taking place in the second half of the year, all 4 blocks (representing Asia (FEMCA), North America (ROAR), Europe (EFRA) and the rest of the world (FAMAR)) and theIFMAR committee have agreed to postpone all remainingIFMAR World Championships (1:10 Electric Touring Car in Heemstede, Netherlands);1:8 IC Off-Road in Cianorte, Brasil and1:10 IC Touring Car in Brisbane, Australia) to an alternative date, possibly early 2021.[175][176] This was the first postponement since 2001 when the events of theSeptember 11 attacks caused the1:10 Electric Off-Road Worlds to be moved to May the following year.[177]
The 12 O’Clock Boyz Motocross Event set for 2020 will not take place. The 12 O’Clock Boyz Sports Company was forced to make this decision due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[178]
So far two grands prix have been cancelled, while races in Azerbaijan, Britain, Hungary, Bahrain, Canada, China, The Netherlands, Spain and Vietnam have been postponed.
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