Rally New Zealand has joined Rally Finland as the next two rounds of the 2020 World Rally Championship to be cancelled due to the Covid-19 pandemic. The decision on Finland has now been confirmed while an official announcement on Rally NZ is expected in the next 24 hours.
Both Rallysportmag.com and dirtfish.com have reported that the next two rounds of the WRC will no longer take place leaving Rally Turkey on 24-27 September the next championship event.
The official statement on Rally Finland has outlined that “Although the situation in Finland and internationally has improved, there are too many ongoing factors regarding health and safety risks to organise the event given that it is only two months away, organiser AKK Sports said in a statement issued on Wednesday (3 June).
“Together with the unknown progress of Covid-19, there are other major uncertainties affecting this decision.
“For example, the lack of information on whether current restrictions imposed by the state on public events will continue after July, and how foreign participants, teams and spectators will be able to safely travel to Finland,” said the statement.”
Kiwi rally fans were eagerly looking forward to the return of the WRC after an absence of seven years. However, the return was always in doubt once the Covid-19 virus hit the country earlier in the year and the NZ border were eventually closed to non-residents.
Main picture: Sebastien Loeb winner of the 2012 Rally NZ
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