Paris (AFP)
The New Zealand rally, which was due to return to the WRC world championship calendar this year after eight years away, has been canceled, the WRC promoter announced on Thursday.
"Rally New Zealand organizers confirmed today (June 4) that the FIA World Championship rally to be held around Auckland in September has been canceled due to the challenges of the Covid pandemic -19 ", said a statement on the WRC website.
The 2020 calendar of the championship is shrinking after the announcement the day before the cancellation of the rally in Finland, which was to be held in August.
The first three events of the championship season took place between January and mid-March and Frenchman Sébastien Ogier (Toyota) leads the driver classification.
The three rounds scheduled between April and June have been postponed sine die (Argentina, not before the 4th quarter of 2020, and Italy) or canceled (Portugal).
The next scheduled event is the Turkey Rally, September 24-27.
© 2020 AFP