In hopes of “spectators being able to attend the race, in strict compliance with the applicable health and safety measures,” the organizers of the 24 Hours of Le Mans—the Automobile Club de l’Ouest—have rescheduled the famed race from its original dates of June 12-13 to August 21-22 of this year.
The release notes that the ACO is working closely with …
Well now I have to change my whole schedule and store my Ferrari in France until August.
Paketo is pinchvalve in French
Man I hope this E36 M3 is over by then. I don't care if I need a vaccine card to get on a plane, or whatever, I just want to go do stuff again.
It's not the first time it's happened. The 1968 race was delayed until September because of civil unrest.
Interesting note in the Wiki page about that race - the later date meant an extra 3 hours of dark running. How will that affect the race?
Gonna be hot in August. That should really test the new hypercars.
In reply to Keith Tanner :
When it was run in September last year, a new issue I remember hearing about was that leaves were collecting in the brake ducts of the LMP1s so clearing them out was an extra step needed in pit stops.
And on a related note, news from IMSA:
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (March 4, 2021) – IMSA today announced date changes for the Michelin GT Challenge at VIRginia International Raceway and the season-ending Motul Petit Le Mans at Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta following today’s announcement that the 24 Hours of Le Mans has been moved to Aug. 21-22.
The new Le Mans date falls on the originally scheduled IMSA weekend at VIRginia International Raceway, which was slated to have a live, NBC network television window for the two-hour, 40-minute IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship race featuring the GT Le Mans (GTLM) and GT Daytona (GTD) classes.
As a result of that, and the fact that several teams and drivers plan to compete at Le Mans, the WeatherTech Championship race now will be run on Saturday, Oct. 9, airing live on NBC. It also will become the WeatherTech Sprint Cup season finale for the GTD class. The new VIR event weekend will be Oct. 8-10.
The new date for the 24th Motul Petit Le Mans will be Saturday, Nov. 13 and also will include a live, three-hour NBC network television window. The race will include five WeatherTech Championship classes – Daytona Prototype international (DPi), LMP2, LMP3, GTLM and GTD – and close out both the 2021 WeatherTech Championship and IMSA Michelin Endurance Cup seasons. The event weekend will run from Nov. 10-13.
"Given the momentum we are carrying in regard to television viewership, it is important for us to preserve live, NBC network windows," said IMSA President John Doonan. "Holding our season finale in November proved successful last year in Sebring, and we have every reason to believe we can be successful again this November at Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta. As always, we are grateful to all of our stakeholders – and particularly our promoter and television partners – for their flexibility and understanding as we maneuver through these changes."
In addition to the WeatherTech Championship events, the IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge and IMSA Prototype Challenge races scheduled for both VIR and Michelin Raceway also will be moving to the new event weekends.
Three IMSA-sanctioned single-make series – Idemitsu Mazda MX-5 Cup presented by BFGoodrich Tires, Lamborghini Super Trofeo North America and Porsche Carrera Cup North America – also will be affected by these changes. Updates will be provided by the manufacturers when confirmed.
All 2021 IMSA schedules remain provisional.
Keith Tanner said:It's not the first time it's happened. The 1968 race was delayed until September because of civil unrest.
Interesting note in the Wiki page about that race - the later date meant an extra 3 hours of dark running. How will that affect the race?
The headlights will be on longer.
Also, there's been civil unrest going on in France for the last two years. The ACO seems to not care too much about those issues.
I should probably mark this on a calender.
Watched the live stream on YouTube in September and it was a good time. Probably should have slept when they called the race for rain tho...
DirtyBird222 said:Keith Tanner said:It's not the first time it's happened. The 1968 race was delayed until September because of civil unrest.
Interesting note in the Wiki page about that race - the later date meant an extra 3 hours of dark running. How will that affect the race?
The headlights will be on longer.
Also, there's been civil unrest going on in France for the last two years. The ACO seems to not care too much about those issues.
<rimshot> Thank you for that analysis :) I'll watch for that.
I think the 1968 events were a little more, umm, absorbing for France than currently.
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