Today the organiser of the French round of the FIA World Rallycross Championship announced in a statement that the event will not be hosted and the World RX of Lohéac is now cancelled due to the restrictions by the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.
Lohéac was planned to be the second round of the revised 2020 World RX calendar on 4-6 September. France’s mass gathering restrictions end just days before the event was originally planned to take place, this causes a logistical nightmare with the setup, leading to difficulties in maintaining social distancing.
Since coming back to international competition in 2013, the Lohéac round has annually hosted the largest crowds with reaching over 60,000 visitors during the weekend. The small venue is packed by fans and rallycross teams, the streets and surroundings of the town are always packed during those couple of days.
In the statement that was sent out by the French organisers, it read; “Due to restrictions imposed by the French government prohibiting mass gatherings until August 31 due to continuing health concerns regarding COVID-19, the Bretagne World Rallycross of France at Loheac, which is scheduled to take place on 4-6 September, is cancelled,”
“This decision was taken after careful consideration and consultation with the FIA, the promoter of the championship (IMG), the French ASN (FFSA) and the Loheac Rallycross Sports Association,”
“The health and safety of all those involved remained the priority, a number of options have been explored in the hope of keeping the event going, but unfortunately it is not logistically possible to apply the social distancing measures required on this site, and no other date is available is available. We will come back even stronger in 2021.”
Currently, the planned season-opener of the 2020 World RX will take place at Höljes on 20-23 August.
