24h Le Mans
Season 8 of the FIA World Endurance Championship will make a stop at the Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Texas in February for a six-hour round. The race will replace the 6 Hours of São Paulo previously on the FIA WEC calendar.
The 6 Hours of Austin (Lone Star Le Mans) is scheduled for Sunday 23 February 2020 (subject to approval by the FIA World Motor Sport Council) to replace the 6 Hours of São Paulo as the fifth round of the 2019-2020 FIA WEC season. The change is due to the inability of the local Brazilian promoter for the 6 Hours of São Paulo to meet its contractual obligations. The FIA WEC has clarified that it has experienced no problems with the city of São Paulo or the Autodromo José Carlos Pace (Interlagos)..
The Circuit of The Americas in Austin is well-known to FIA WEC competitors as the championship has visited the track five times over the last seven years. After Lone Star Le Mans in Texas, the teams will head to Florida for the 1000 Miles of Sebring, the sixth round on the 2019-2020 FIA WEC calendar, for the highly anticipated Super Sebring weekend organised by the IMSA.
The 6 Hours of Austin (Lone Star Le Mans) will take place 22-23 February 2020, avoiding any conflict with the NFL Super Bowl scheduled for the first weekend of the month nor a round of the FIA Formula E Championship on 14-15 February.
Gérard Neveu, CEO of the FIA World Endurance Championship: "Firstly we must thank Bobby Epstein and the Circuit of The Americas for accommodating us at relatively short notice. It is an excellent venue, and our fans, the competitors and media are now assured of excellent racing in North America not once, but twice in two months. Of course, it is very unfortunate to find ourselves in this position. The WEC very much regrets this situation and feels very sad for the city of São Paulo and the many thousands of Brazilian motorsport fans. Our main concern was our competitors and partners, and we have worked very hard to find a solution which offered the least disruption possible."
The next round of the FIA WEC will be hosted at the Bahrain International Circuit on 14 December. The 88th running of the 24 Hours of Le Mans on 13-14 June 2020 will serve as the finale of Season 8 of the FIA WEC.
The FIA WEC calendar:
For more info, go to the official championship website.
