It’s not unusual that non-motorsport issues get in the way of competition plans, and this came in the way of GT World Challenge Europe powered by AWS, with the confirmation that traditional Endurance Cup debut at Monza will be moved out of the 2020 calendar.
The three hour race was set to be held on April 19th, but as explained by SRO in an official statement, the growing concern about the COVID-19, known as coronavirus, made the organization move just weeks after they announced that the event could possibly leave the calendar.
The mentioned virus spread in an alarming manner in Italy, which forced the northern part of the country to be locked down, and this was soon extended to the whole country, allowing movement in and out of it only for work or emergencies. The COVID-19 spread was affecting sports in Italy for quite a time, with football matches being held with no spectators as a measure to avoid forming large gatherings of people, and other events just followed the practice.
Monza is incredibly tradition in the GT World Challenge Europe Endurance Cup, being one of the original Blancpain Endurance Series circuits and always opening the season since 2011. The circuit was also where Lamborghini got its first victory with its in-house GT3 program, back in 2015 in what was the debut race of the previous-gen Huracán GT3.
In response to the cancellation of the Monza round, the contingency plan announced by SRO takes action, as Barcelona reverts back to the Endurance Cup after being announced as the Sprint Cup finale on October 11th, while Imola steps in to act as the Sprint Cup finale just after Barcelona, on October 30th and November 1st. Barcelona keeps its place since 2017, while Imola debuts in the main SRO competition.
With the alternative plan in place, Brands Hatch opens the 2020 with its usual Sprint Cup double header on May 2nd and 3rd, while the first Endurance Cup race will be at Silverstone in the following weekend on May 10th.
PHOTO - SRO
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