Britain and Germany’s motorsport calendars next to feel the impact of Coronavirus

The spread of the Coronavirus has caused unprecedented disruption to the start of the 2020 motorsport season worldwide.

Over 100 races have now been cancelled or postponed as governments strive to contain a virus which has caused, as of yesterday, 5,735 deaths.

China, where the virus originated, was the first country to see races called off. Formula E’s race in Sanya and Formula 1’s Chinese Grand Prix in Shanghai were among the first to be affected. But as the virus has spread with remarkable speed the Americas and Europe have joined Asia in striking hundreds of planned races in March, April and, in some cases, later in the year.

The same action has not been in every country. Britain’s racing circuits are yet to report any major race cancellations.

Silverstone, home of the British Grand Prix, said at the end of last week it was “business as usual” for them. It will hold the pre-season media event for the popular British Touring Car Championship tomorrow. The event, which is open to the public, is “full” according to the track.

The BTCC’s season is due to begin at Donington Park on the last weekend in March. However the series organisers may be planning to pull the race.

On Friday, when Formula 1 abandoned efforts to hold its season opener in Melbourne and dozens of other races followed suit, the BTCC initially issued a statement saying its events “are planned to go ahead as scheduled”.

“Our position follows the UK government’s announcement yesterday that no restrictions on outdoor events are being introduced at this time,” it continued. “It also reflects the overwhelming desire of the BTCC teams, our fans and the circuits for the events to take place – unless of course a change in circumstances subsequently dictates otherwise.” The notice was quietly deleted from their website over the weekend.

While the British government originally indicated it would not impose the same ban on mass gatherings seen in other European countries as a result of Coronavirus, that policy appears set to change. Scotland, which has its own government, has already announced restrictions. It may therefore only be a matter of time until the BTCC, and the likes of British F3, British F4 and British GT racing, are forced to abandon plans to begin their seasons in the coming weeks.

Some major series in Germany are also set to continue, although several of these were not due to being racing until the end of next month. Its major domestic series, the DTM, will hold its season opener at the Zolder circuit in Belgium on the last weekend of April. The German F4 season is slated to start the same weekend at Oschersleben.

However the Nurburgring has already announced the cancellation of some non-motorsport events at its tracks over the coming days. The DTM, having relocated its pre-season test from Monza to Hockenheim, has now cancelled the event, which was due to begin today.

The managing director of series organiser ITR, Marcel Mohaupt said “with regard to the start of the 2020 season, we are engaged in a close dialogue with our partners, manufacturers and local race organisers”. It will be a situation familiar to many motorsport organisers as the impact of the Coronavirus continues to be felt.

Advert | Become a RaceFans supporter and go ad-free

Races cancelled or postponed due to Coronavirus

A list of Coronavirus-affected events identified so far. Includes some events which hold multiple races per weekend.

Order	Dates	Series	Event	Location	Country
1	March 6 – March 8	Moto GP	Qatar Grand Prix	Losail International Circuit	Qatar
2	March 13 – March 15	World Superbikes	Qatar	Losail International Circuit	Qatar
3	March 13 – March 15	Formula 1	Australian Grand Prix	Melbourne	Australia
4	March 13 – March 15	IndyCar	St Petersburg Grand Prix	St Petersburg	USA
5	March 14 – March 15	NASCAR	Atlanta Motor Speedway 500	Atlanta Motor Speedway	USA
6	March 13 – March 15	Indy Lights	St Petersburg	St Petersburg	USA
7	March 13 – March 15	Indy Pro 2000	St Petersburg	St Petersburg	USA
8	March 13 – March 15	USF2000	St Petersburg	St Petersburg	USA
9	March 13 – March 15	TC Americas	St Petersburg	St Petersburg	USA
10	March 12 – March 15	TCR Asia Pacific Cup	Melbourne	Melbourne	Australia
11	March 15 – March 15	NHRA	Gatornationals	Gainesville	USA
12	March 13 – March 15	Supercars	Melbourne	Albert Park	Australia
13	March 14 – March 15	British Rally Championship	West Cork Rally	Cork	Ireland
14	March 12 – March 15	Porsche Carrera Cup Australia	Albert Park	Melbourne	Australia
15	March 19 – March 20	World Endurance Championship	Sebring 1000km	Sebring	USA
16	March 21 – March 21	Formula E	Sanya EPrix	Sanya	China
17	March 18 – March 21	IMSA	12 Hours of Sebring	Sebring	USA
18	March 20 – March 21	IMSA Challenge	Sebring	Sebring	USA
19	March 20 – March 22	Moto GP	Thailand Grand Prix	Buriram International Circuit	Thailand
20	March 21 – March 22	Super Taikyu	Round one	Suzuka	Japan
21	March 21 – March 22	NASCAR	Homestead-Miami 400	Homestead-Miami	USA
22	March 20 – March 22	Formula 1	Bahrain Grand Prix	Bahrain International Circuit	Bahrain
23	March 20 – March 22	Formula 2	Bahrain rounds	Bahrain International Circuit	Bahrain
24	March 20 – March 22	Formula 3	Bahrain rounds	Bahrain International Circuit	Bahrain
25	March 21 – March 22	NXS	Homestead-Miami	Homestead-Miami	USA
26	March 21 – March 22	NASCAR Trucks	Homestead-Miami	Homestead-Miami	USA
27	March 21 – March 22	Ultimate Cup	Circuit de Catalunya	Circuit de Catalunya	Spain
28	March 26 – March 28	24H Series	12H Estoril	Estoril	Portugal
29	March 26 – March 28	European Rally Championship	Azores Rallye	Sao Miguel Island	Portugal
30	March 27 – March 29	World Superbikes	Spain	Jerez	Spain
31	April 4 – April 4	Formula E	Rome Eprix	Rome	Italy
32	April 4 – April 4	Jaguar IPace ETrophy	Rome	Rome	Italy
33	April 4 – April 4	Le Mans Cup	Circuit de Catalunya	Circuit de Catalunya	Spain
34	April 4 – April 5	Super Formula	Round one	Suzuka	Japan
35	April 3 – April 5	Ferrari Challenge Europe	Mugello round	Mugello	Italy
36	April 3 – April 5	Moto GP	Americas Grand Prix	Circuit of the Americas	USA
37	April 3 – April 5	IndyCar	Alabama Grand Prix	Barber Motorsports Park	USA
38	April 4 – April 5	European Le Mans Series	Four Hours of Barcelona	Circuit de Catalunya	Spain
39	April 3 – April 5	Formula 1	Vietnam Grand Prix	Hanoi Circuit	Vietnam
40	April 3 – April 5	Indy Lights	Alabama Grand Prix	Barber Motorsports Park	USA
41	April 3 – April 5	Indy Pro 2000	Alabama Grand Prix	Barber Motorsports Park	USA
42	April 3 – April 5	USF2000	Alabama Grand Prix	Barber Motorsports Park	USA
43	April 4 – April 5	Super Formula Lights	Round one	Suzuka	Japan
44	April 9 – April 11	F4 USA	Road Atlanta	Road Atlanta	USA
45	April 9 – April 11	Formula Regional Americas	Road Atlanta	Road Atlanta	USA
46	April 12 – April 13	French F4	Nogaro	Nogaro	France
47	April 12 – April 13	Alpine Europa Cup	Nogaro	Nogaro	France
48	April 15 – April 15	S5000	Melbourne	Albert Park	Australia
49	April 18 – April 18	Formula E	Paris EPrix	Paris	France
50	April 18 – April 18	Jaguar IPace ETrophy	Paris	Paris	France
51	April 17 – April 19	Formula 1	Chinese Grand Prix	Shanghai International Circuit	China
52	April 17 – April 19	Porsche Carrera Cup Asia	Shanghai round	Shanghai International Circuit	China
53	April 17 – April 19	Chinese Formula Four	Shanghai round	Shanghai International Circuit	China
54	April 17 – April 19	GT World Challenge Europe	Monza round	Monza	Italy
55	April 17 – April 19	Formula Renault Eurocup	Monza round	Monza	Italy
56	April 17 – April 19	Moto GP	Argentinian Grand Prix	Termas de Rio Hondo	Argentina
57	April 18 – April 19	World Rallycross Championship	World RX of Spain	Circuit de Catalunya	Spain
58	April 24 – April 26	IndyCar	Long Beach Grand Prix	Long Beach	USA
59	April 24 – April 26	World Touring Car Cup	Race of Hungary	Hungaroring	Hungary
60	April 23 – April 26	World Rally Championship	Rally Argentina	Argentina	Argentina
61	April 24 – April 26	IMSA	Long Beach	Long Beach	USA
62	April 25 – April 26	NASCAR Euro Series	Valencia NASCAR GP Spain	Valencia	Spain
63	May 3 – May 3	Formula E	Seoul EPrix	Seoul	South Korea
64	May 6 – May 6	Formula E	Jakarta EPrix	Jakarta	Indonesia
65	May 7 – May 9	IndyCar	Americas Grand Prix	Circuit of the Americas	USA
66	May 9 – May 9	Le Mans Cup	Monza	Monza	Italy
67	May 9 – May 10	European Le Mans Series	Four Hours of Monza	Monza	Italy
68	October 9 – October 11	TCR China	Wuhan	Wuhan	China
69	November 13 – November 15	24H Series	24H COTA	Circuit of the Americas	USA

Advert | Become a RaceFans supporter and go ad-free

Other motorsport

• “Dominant” Palou has proved he deserves F1 chance – Sainz
• Sainz again urges F1 to adopt F2’s Monaco qualifying format. But is it too unfair?
• McLaren to quit Formula E at end of season
• McLaren finally confirms it will enter the World Endurance Championship in 2027
• Lawson: Tsunoda ‘had his time – I beat him in the junior series’

Browse all other motorsport articles