American sports-car racing fans woke up to surprising news this morning—the FIA World Endurance Championship (WEC) is headed to Circuit of the Americas next February. The WEC was supposed to race at Interlagos for the Six Hours of São Paolo on February 1, but the series said in a statement that issues with the local promoter forced it to look for a new race venue.
This marks the return of the Lone Star Le Mans to the WEC calendar for the first time since 2017. The six-hour race will be held on February 23, which was chosen so as not to clash with the Super Bowl (February 1) and the Formula E weekend in Mexico (February 14 to February 15). Racer notes that the new Lone Star Le Mans weekend will clash with the Asian Le Mans Series race in Thailand, though.
The return to the Austin track also means the WEC will race in the U.S. twice during its 2019/2020 “Super Season.” After racing at COTA, the WEC will head to Sebring for a 1000-mile race held the same March weekend as IMSA’s 12-hour classic at the Florida track, just like last year.
It’s a remarkable that the WEC was able to find a replacement venue on such short notice, but adding a new race less than three months away presents its own problems. It’ll be difficult to get the word out to racing fans for one thing, and unlike previous Lone Star Le Mans weekends, this one won’t be shared with IMSA.
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