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Coronavirus Cancels Motorsports

March 13, 2020 by ponycargirl 1 Comment

As the COVID-19 – the illness commonly referred to as coronavirus – has been declared a pandemic by the World Health Organization (WHO), the cancellations in the world of motorsports are piling up. Here’s a list of cancellations and postponements as of March 23, 2020:

Trans-Am Speedfest: WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca May 1-3 POSTPONED

World RX of Portugal: POSTPONED. “Due to the Portuguese government declaring a state of emergency and the suspension of all sporting events in Portugal in light of global health concerns… this year’s World RX of Portugal on May 2-3 has been postponed. …We will provide further updates as soon as we have them.”

Lime Rock Park: CLOSED. “This closure will remain in effect through April 30, 2020, unless earlier modified, extended, or terminated by Governor Lamont. This closure will affect all daily track rentals and events previously scheduled at the facility. Lime Rock staff will continue to work within the “Stay Safe, Stay Home” policy and will be available to answer calls and concerns during this time. The decision to reschedule any major events will be made at a future time. Our current intention is to run all major events for the 2020 season.”

WEC TOTAL 6 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps: “…the decision has been taken to postpone the 7th round of the FIA World Endurance Championship’s 2019-2020 season… The promoter, Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps and the RACB are working together to find a new 2020 date and, as soon as this is finalised, it will be communicated.”

Formula 1:
UPDATE 3: As of March 23, Azerbaijan GP is POSTPONED.
UPDATE 2: As of March 19, 2020, the Dutch GP and Spanish GP are POSTPONED while Monaco is CANCELLED.
Mandatory summer shutdown has been moved from August to March and April, and extended to up to 21 days.
UPDATE: As of March 13, 8:30 a.m. EST, Bahrain and Vietnam Grand Prix have been POSTPONED. The Formula 1 season will tentatively resume in May 2020. Additionally, the second round of the Virgin Australia Supercars Championship, which were to have run at Albert Park during the GP weekend, will be POSTPONED to later in the year. (Note that the Chinese Grand Prix had already been POSTPONED in February.)
The Australian Grand Prix, supposed to have been run on Sunday, March 15, 2020 has been CANCELLED

Twelve Hours of Sebring: IMSA have POSTPONED the race to November 11-14, 2020.

ABB FIA Formula e: As of March 13, season is SUSPENDED for two months

INDYCAR: As of March 26, 2020, the Indy 500 has been POSTPONED to Sunday, August 23, 2020.
As of March 13, 2020, all NTT INDYCAR SERIES events have been CANCELLED through April. This includes the Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg.

WRC Rally Mexico: Remaining stages CANCELLED March 14th to allow teams to travel home. Sebastien Ogier declared winner.

Rally Argentina: 2020 SpeedAgro Rally Argentina, originally scheduled for 23 – 26 April, has been POSTPONED. New dates will be announced soon.

100 Acre Wood Rally: As of March 13, 100 Acre Wood Rally is CANCELLED.

NASCAR:
FULL UPDATE:
Atlanta Motor Speedway: “With the health and safety of fans, staff, competitors, race teams and media our top priority, NASCAR and Atlanta Motor Speedway POSTPONED this weekend’s race activities to a yet-to-be determined future date.”
ARCA: This weekend’s ARCA Menards Series East race at Five Flags Speedway in Pensacola, Florida has been POSTPONED.
Homestead-Miami: “As a result of the recent Coronavirus and taking necessary precautions to ensure the safety of our fans and industry stakeholders, NASCAR has decided to postpone the race events at Atlanta Motor Speedway this weekend and Homestead-Miami Speedway next weekend.”
Whelen Modifier South Boston: “NASCAR and South Boston Speedway officials announced Friday that the NASCAR Whelen Modified Tour opener has been POSTPONED INEVITABLY.“
NASCAR WHELEN EURO SERIES: After conversations with Circuit Ricardo Tormo and the local government, the NASCAR Whelen Euro Series season opener in Valencia, Spain has been rescheduled due to the ongoing concerns regarding the spread of COVID-19 (coronavirus). The NASCAR GP Spain at Valencia, previously scheduled for April 25-26, will now take place on October 31st – November 1st. [POSTPONED]

The Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach: The April 17-19 GP has been CANCELLED. “…various race sanctioning bodies and the Long Beach Convention Center to discuss the viability of rescheduling this event at a later time in the year. If that is not possible, then we look forward to presenting the Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach on April 16-18, 2021.”

Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg: CANCELLED.

NHRA: As per the the March 12 press release, “NHRA officials are postponing a portion of the Amalie Motor Oil NHRA Gatornationals. Some Sportsman racing will be contested this weekend without ticketed spectators, but the majority of the event has been POSTPONED to a later date.”

Formula D: The 2020 opening round is now CANCELLED. “For all Formula DRIFT Long Beach ticket buyers, information on refunds and/or credits will be forthcoming.”

Trans Am Series: The debut at Sonoma Raceway that was originally scheduled for March 14-15 is POSTPONED. New date will be announced soon. “As an additional precautionary measure, the upcoming SpeedTour Road Atlanta Grand Prix event at Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta March 28–29 will be held WITHOUT SPECTATORS.”

Monster Energy Supercross: March 14 race at Indianapolis’ Lucas Oil Stadium has been CANCELLED.

FIA World Rallycross: “In light of the Generalitat de Catalunya’s decree to currently suspend all live sporting events in response to the evolving COVID-19 (coronavirus) situation, this year’s World RX of Catalunya-Barcelona on April 18-19 has been POSTPONED.”

Daytona 200/Daytona TT: “American Flat Track has postponed Bike Week At DAYTONA race events at Daytona International Speedway for March 14 and 15, which includes Saturday’s DAYTONA 200 presented by CoMoto and the DAYTONA TT. The 79th DAYTONA 200 will be held as part of Biketoberfest in October and the DAYTONA TT will be rescheduled on a future date. “

24 Hours of LeMans: POSTPONED to September 19-20, 2020.

Sonora Rally 2020: Ran as planned.

It should also be noted that outside of motorsports, the New York International Auto Show has been POSTPONED from April to August 2020. The Dallas Auto Show has also been postponed. Concrete dates for both will be announced soon.

Mazda celebrates 25 years of Miata at NYIAS

April 18, 2014 by Gary Grant Leave a Comment

For sports car fans, perhaps the most significant presence at this year’s New York Auto Show was Mazda’s display commemorating the 25th anniversary of the worlds most faithful roadster. A collection of significant models was on hand that included some of the little car’s history.

At the front of the line were production numbers 14 and 15, cars that were on the show stand at the 1989 Chicago Auto Show. Who could have guessed what an impact the tiny machine would have on motoring history.

In the next row sat #17, the first Miata race car. With 6,500 racing miles on the odometer, this is the first of over 5,000 Miatas that have been raced over the years. More than any other model. It truly changed the face of auto racing.
[Read more…]

Day one at the New York International Auto Show

April 17, 2014 by Gary Grant Leave a Comment

Here I sit, in Hudson Station Bar & Grill, with a cold pint of Bronx Lager and my laptop, which must mean that this year’s New York show has come to an end. It has for me anyway, as some journos are still slogging around the show floor or working in the somewhat dark and dingy media center. I am much happier to work here at the bar.

I have had mixed feelings about this year’s show, as in many respects in was a great show, and yet I came away somewhat disappointed.

There were several very important reveals this week, as Hyundai and Toyota introduced the new Sonata and Camry respectively, two of the most important models in the passenger car market. Kia dropped their new Sedona, the newest player in the all important minivan market. There were several other launches in smaller niches as well.

There was lots of exciting new product on the floor, and yet the show lacked some something. There were some who went so far as to express boredom. This is an intangible contrast to Detroit just a few months ago, where the vibe was almost electric. Cobo Hall seemed alive with excitement, despite the insanely cold Winter weather. Does that mean that that NYIAS wasn’t up to snuff? [Read more…]

2013 New York International Auto Show

March 30, 2013 by Gary Grant 3 Comments

The surprise pf the show was by far the introduction of the 2014 Chevrolet Camaro Z/28.

With all of the internet trolls who do their best to out new product images from manufacturers these days, it is becoming rare for an auto manufacturer to surprise the media at a show. Couple that with the latest trend of launching cars at other venues before the show and media day reveals can be somewhat of an afterthought.

It was surprising then that General Motors was actually able to surprise the press when they unveiled an unexpected treat. Finally, the Z/28 moniker is returning to the Camaro line up, this time as a kick ass track day machine. Think A/C, radio and sound deadener delete, along with big brakes, big cubes (427 of them) and big-ish horsepower. With the weight savings, 500 horsepower should be just about right.

While they were not surprises, the media were also wowed by the Subaru WRX concept and the Jaguar XKR-S GT. More subtle, but definitely packing a bigger punch was the Porsche 911 GT-3, sitting along Jerry Seinfeld’s ’64 911. Of course SRT had the new Viper on display too.

Head past the jump to check out a massive gallery of images from the show.
[Read more…]

2011 New York Auto Show: Bright lights, big stars and journos behaving badly

April 24, 2011 by Gary Grant 3 Comments

Did you hear the one about the auto show and the fighting journalists? No? Well, it really was no joke. Amongst the glitter and new model reveals, there was some pretty ignorant people. More on that later.

The New York International Auto Show has long been considered one of the most important shows of the year. That position may be in jeopardy thanks to the rapidly growing show in China that alternates annually between Beijing and Shanghai. Somehow the manufacturers also seem to be conspiring against New York’s relevance, as a the days before the show were filled with off site product launches. From the MTV hosted VW event on Monday to Lexus and Ford on Tuesday evening, many of the 4 wheeled stars of the show were revealed before media days arrived. While these events are lots of fun and generate great product buzz, at least amongst the media, they certainly detract from the importance of the show.
[Read more…]

New Infiniti Crossover Concept

January 13, 2007 by Gary Grant Leave a Comment

Continuing the trend of offering teaser sketches of new models, Nissan has just released a gesture of a new Infiniti Luxury crossover concept vehicle that will debut at the New York International Auto Show in April. The production version of this vehicle is due to hit showrooms before the end of the year.

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