Paris (AFP)
The Bol d'Or, the famous 24-hour motorcycle endurance race scheduled to take place on September 19-20 on the Paul Ricard circuit in Le Castellet (Var), is canceled due to lack of capacity to accommodate spectators, organizers announced on Monday. .
"Following the strengthening of restrictions to stop the Covid-19 epidemic in France, the Prefecture of the Var has just withdrawn this authorization to welcome spectators at Le Castellet. This decision requires Editions Larivière, organizer of the race, to cancel the Bol d'Or 2020 ", they write in a statement.
"This final event of the FIM EWC season (the Motorcycle Endurance World Championship, editor's note) has already been replaced by the 12 Hours of Estoril which will take place on September 27 in Portugal," they add.
Before that, the competitors will meet behind closed doors on August 29-30 in Le Mans (Sarthe) for the 24 Heures Moto, their first meeting since the 8 Hours of Sepang (Malaysia) on December 14.
It was announced last Monday that the 24 Hours of Le Mans Auto, postponed to the same weekend as the Bol d'Or, would finally be held, also without an audience, due to the uncertainties about the pandemic.
Among the other major motorsport events organized in France this year, the Formula 1 French Grand Prix at Le Castellet has been canceled, like that of Monaco elsewhere, and the French motorcycle GP at Le Mans is postponed to 11 October.
This new change of schedule in a very disrupted motorcycle endurance season comes less than a week after the announcement of the cancellation of the Suzuka 8 Hours, the last round of the championship scheduled for November 1, due to entry restrictions on Japanese territory.
© 2020 AFP