NASCAR Whelen Euro Series will not go to Hockenheim in 2020 after its cancellation was announced yesterday. A second round at Circuit Ricardo Tormo, titled NASCAR GP de la Comunitat Valenciana, will be held in its place instead with the round acting as part of the Super Speed Week doubleheader round to end the 2020 season.
The schedule of NASCAR Whelen Euro Series’ 2020 season has received yet another change after it was announced yesterday that NASCAR Whelen Euro Series will not go to Hockenheim this year. According to the official announcement, the cancellation was caused by specific restrictions that the local government of Baden-Wurttemberg has imposed in the region to prevent the spread of COVID-19.
The Baden-Wurttemberg region itself has seen a spike in the number of COVID-19 cases lately. Based on the data shown until 24 August, within the last 7 days there has been 1,661 new cases that is reported to have come from the region, more than double of the 725 new cases reported from the previous 7-day period.
“It is very, very sad that we cannot host the final of the NASCAR Whelen Euro Series as planned. But the current situation regarding COVID-19 unfortunately doesn’t allow us to host the American Fan Fest with and for the spectators,” said Hockenheimring Managing Directors Jorn Teske and Jochen Nerpel to euronascar.com.
“All the more we are looking forward to next year’s American Fan Fest, where we will try to top the action on and off the track once again.”
A second Valencia round will be held in place of the now-cancelled Hockenheim round. Titled NASCAR GP de la Comunitat Valenciana, the new Valencia round will be held on 3-4 December as part of the Super Speed Week that will determine the champions of the 2020 season.
Given that the postponed Valencia NASCAR Fest – now titled EuroNASCAR Finals Spain – is scheduled to be held on 5-6 December, this meant that there will be 8 races that will be held across a 4-day period, a historic first for NASCAR Whelen Euro Series. The announcement also confirms that the EuroNASCAR Finals Spain will award drivers and teams with double points, in line with Euro Series’ traditional Playoffs system.
“Everybody has to continuously adapt during these challenging times,” said Euro Series President and CEO Jerome Galpin. “The situation at the Hockenheimring is unfortunate and we can just work with everybody there on a bigger and better NASCAR GP Germany in 2021.”
But this can never stop creativity and we are really happy to organize this very unique Super Speed Week with our friends at Circuit Ricardo Tormo. These four days of Pure Racing will make history and we can’t wait to start the season in a few weeks at Vallelunga! Let’s go racing now!”
“Hosting two NASCAR Whelen Euro Series rounds at the Circuit Ricardo Tormo is great news and also a challenge for us. Our team is used to organizing the final race of many championships, both car racing and motorcycling, so we will be ready on December 3, 4, 5 and 6 for this historic Super Speed Week,” said Gonzalo Gobert, Circuit Ricardo Tormo General Manager regarding the planned doubleheader Valencia rounds.
Disclaimer: Unless noted, all photos used in the article are courtesy of NASCAR Whelen Euro Series / Stephane Azemard.