The FIA World Motor Sport Council has approved the changes to this year’s FIA TCR World Tour calendar, with the dropping of the two Australian rounds being necessitated due to global shipping challenges.
The second season of the TCR World Tour, and the first with FIA recognition, was originally set to feature nine events, including two in Australia at Sydney Motorsport Park and Bathurst.
But due to challenges imposed by the Red Sea crisis, the logistics of getting cars and equipment from South America to China and then on to Australia became significantly harder.
The decision has therefore been taken to cancel the two Australian rounds and move the Chinese round at Zhouzhou from September to 19 – 20 October, to allow more time for the shipping from South America.
The venue for the Brazilian round in July has also been confirmed as being Interlagos.
“In the wake of the Suez Canal closure, as consequence of the ongoing Red Sea crisis, and its impact on the shipping industry and the resulting major delays, we were left with no choice but to re-evaluate the schedule,” explained WSC President Marcello Lotti.
“The original plan was to ship the cars from Uruguay directly to China, but the transportation delays make it impossible for the freight to be delivered on time.
“Following consultations with the series’ key stakeholders and the teams, a difficult decision was taken to drop the two Australian events from this year’s calendar with the intention to reinstate them on the schedule in 2025.
“In the meantime, we encourage competitors to enter in Bathurst International event, thus consolidating the strong bonds of friendship and cooperation we have established with the promoter of TCR Australia.”
