The World Rallycross Championship’s Abu Dhabi round is the latest to be canceled for 2020, reducing the number of venues on this year’s schedule to seven.
Yas Marina Circuit, which was set to host the penultimate round of this season, said the cancelation was related to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, which has already pushed the start of the season from April to August and led to several postponements and cancelations.
“In light of continued global health concerns regarding COVID-19 (Coronavirus), the World Rallycross of Abu Dhabi 2020, scheduled to be hosted at Yas Marina Circuit on 30-31 October, will unfortunately not take place this year,” read a statement from the circuit.
“The health and safety of everyone involved remains the priority as we navigate these unprecedented circumstances.
“We very much look forward to welcoming the drivers, teams, and fans to Yas Marina Circuit for this world-class event in 2021.”
Abu Dhabi was the last remaining round of the 2020 World RX calendar taking place outside of Europe, as its now traditional season-ending South Africa trip had already been deferred to 2021.
The French and Norwegian rounds of the championship at Lohéac and Hell were also removed from the 2020 schedule in previous calendar revisions.
The first three rounds of the season – Sweden, Finland and Latvia – are running two World RX rounds apiece to make up for the lower number of venues.
World RX’s European Super 1600 support category has also undergone a minor schedule change alongside the Abu Dhabi cancelation.
It has dropped its season-opening trip to Kouvola on the final weekend of August and replaced it with World RX’s maiden trip to the Nürburgring on December 12-13.
