NASCAR Whelen Euro Series president Jerome Galpin is eyeing a September start for the 2020 season. In an interview with French motorsport site Auto Hebdo, Galpin stated the long-paused season will finally kick off in early September upon completing revisions to the calendar. A formal announcement will take place at a later time, with Galpin specifically noting the series will wait until Formula One and MotoGP reveal their plans.
“We must also ensure that one of our prestigious competitors, Jacques Villeneuve, is also available according to his F1 obligations with Canal +! But I can already announce that the NASCAR season will resume in early September,” Galpin said, according to a machine translation.
Due to COVID-19, the season opener has traded hands among various tracks. After initially being planned for Circuit Ricardo Tormo in late April, it was pushed back to Brands Hatch in early June. However, Motorsport UK eventually placed restrictions on issuing event licenses through the end of the month, further delaying the start. As a result, Autodrom Most on 20–21 June was shuffled into the opening round slot after initially being the third weekend of the season. Ricardo Tormo, which hosts the Valencia NASCAR Fest, was rescheduled to 31 October–1 November.
With Galpin’s announcement, the actual season kickoff location is not yet known outside of it being in early September, though he expressed optimism about the revised schedule. Despite Brands Hatch’s uncertainty, he noted five of the seven race weekends have confirmed their places on the 2020 calendar.
“We worked on it a lot during this confinement period. We were thus able to secure the dates of five meetings out of the initial seven,” he commented. “We are still waiting for the last two, especially with the United Kingdom where the situation is still uncertain.
“Vis-à-vis our partner circuits, we are also awaiting publication of the F1 and Moto GP calendars to make a global announcement in the process. Better wait until everything is in place.”
In the meantime, the Euro Series has taken its racing online with the EuroNASCAR Esport Series. The sim racing league, which is currently two rounds in, is expected to conclude in mid-July.
