This year’s Le Mans 24 Hours will run behind closed doors following a jump in Covid-19 cases in France this month.
The world’s most famous endurance race was initially scheduled for 13-14 June, but in March it was delayed until 19-20 September as the coronavirus quickly spread throughout Europe. As things started to improve in June, race organizer the Automobile Club de l’Ouest (ACO) decided a small number of fans would be able to attend the event in ‘social bubbles’ made up of 5,000 fans each.
Read More: 24 Hours Of Le Mans Delayed Until September Amid Coronavirus Outbreak
However, ACO president Pierre Fillon has now confirmed that this plan has been shelved and the race will go on without spectators.
“Over the past few weeks, we have looked at many ways in which we could hold our event in September with fans present, albeit in limited numbers,” Fillon said in a statement reported on by Autosport.
“However, given the constraints involved in organizing a festival-scale event over several days in the current situation, we have opted with the local government authorities to hold the race behind closed doors. There were still too many question-marks regarding health and safety. We know that our fans will be as disappointed as we are by this decision but, with public health in the balance, it really wasn’t a difficult call to make.”
Fans who had purchased tickets will be contacted by the ticket office for a refund.
Meanwhile, the 2020 World Endurance Championship will resume at Spa-Francorchamps in Belgium this weekend.
