Organizers for the 24 Hours of Le Mans announced on Wednesday that this year’s run, scheduled for the weekend starting June 13, has been postponed due to the health situation and resulting restrictions of the Covid-19 coronavirus.
The race will now run the weekend starting September 19.
The annual 24-hour classic is held at the Circuit de la Sarthe in Le Mans, France, and currently serves as the final round of the World Endurance Championship.
Other rounds in the current 2019/2020 WEC season have also been affected. The 1000 Miles of Sebring scheduled for March 20 at Florida’s Sebring International Raceway has been cancelled while organizers are still determining a date to hold Belgium’s 6 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps.
2019 24 Hours of Le Mans
Numerous other events have either been cancelled or postponed due to the coronavirus.
Organizers of Formula One have pushed the start of the 2020 season to late May, with this month’s Australian Grand Prix cancelled and races in Bahrain, China and Vietnam all postponed. Formula E, IndyCar and MotoGP have also postponed races, while the Isle of Man TT has been cancelled.
The Circuit of the Americas also announced last weekend that it will close and lay off staff due to restrictions on public gatherings of 250 or more people in Austin, Texas, where the racetrack and events center is located. Auto shows in Beijing and New York scheduled for April have also been postponed.
Automakers across the globe have also had to close plants, either due to social distancing requirements, parts constraints, or workers becoming infected. It’s also happened here in North America, with General Motors, Ford, Fiat Chrysler Automobiles, Honda, Hyundai and Nissan all announcing this week that their plants will be temporarily closed.