Paris (AFP)
The 24 heures Motos au Mans on August 29 and 30 will be held behind closed doors due to the Covid-19 pandemic, said the Automobile Club de l'Ouest (ACO) on Thursday.
"Given the current health context, measures to restrict travel between certain countries and gatherings in force in France, the 43rd edition of the 24 Heures Motos, scheduled for August 29 and 30, will be held behind closed doors," say the organizers in a press release.
This event, initially scheduled for April before being postponed, counts for the 2020 EWC motorcycle endurance world championship, of which there are three out of five events to be contested, with, in addition to the 24 Hours, the Bol d'Or on the circuit French du Castellet on September 19 and 20, 2020 and the Eight Hours of Suzuka in Japan on November 1.
"Exceptional conditions require exceptional decisions on our part," said ACO president Pierre Fillon, quoted in the press release.
"These 24 Hours Motorcycles will be special without our audience, but rest assured that we will do everything in our power to share with him, wherever he is, our passion and our race," he added.
"Of course, I prefer the 24 Hours Motorcycles without spectators than no 24 Hours at all. This totally exceptional health crisis leads us to adapt and imagine the unimaginable," said the president of the French Federation of Motorcycling Jacques Bolle, recalling that the event would be televised.
© 2020 AFP