The Formula 3 World Cup, GT World Cup and final round of the WTCR – FIA World Touring Car Cup will not take place during this year’s Macau Grand Prix event, the Fédération Internationale de l’Automobile (FIA) announced yesterday.
According to a statement from the FIA, the governing body of international motorsport received confirmation from the local government that “all those arriving into Macau SAR must undergo a quarantine of 21 days immediately after arrival.” The measure was unlikely to be halted for the foreseeable future.
The FIA noted that, as the majority of competitors taking part in the FIA events would necessarily come from outside of Macau, this restriction “presents the drivers, teams, and suppliers with conditions that are difficult to comply with.”
As a result, the three main events of the local Grand Prix event will not to be going ahead this year.
The FIA also said that the Macau-exclusive World Cup events (F3 and GT) will not take place this year, and that the Macau round of the WTCR will be hosted by another locale at a venue still to be confirmed.
Regarding the matter, FIA secretary-general for Sport Peter Bayer said: “For many years, the Macau Grand Prix has been a season-ending tradition for much of the motorsport world, and it holds special significance for the FIA as the only event to feature three different FIA World Cups on the same event schedule. While we will miss not being there ourselves, we wish the organizers a safe and successful Macau Grand Prix in November, and we will start working immediately towards the 2022 event.” He added that FIA intends to return to Macau in 2022 with all three racing events.
With the final announcement on the non-participation of any of the FIA events in the 68th edition of the local Grand Prix, the idea that the event would follow a similar format in 2021 as it did in 2020 has regained momentum.
Previously, the Chinese F4, which replaced the F3 World Cup last year, had already presented Macau as the final round of its likewise shortened calendar for 2021.
The final announcement of the event program for this year’s edition is expected to occur in the next few days.
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