Spa-Francorchamps moves 2020 WEC race forward in new deal

Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps has secured a four-year extension to its World Endurance Championship deal, while the 2020 race has been pushed forward by one week to late April to avoid clashing with Formula E.

The Belgian round has been ever-present on the WEC calendar since 2012 and is traditionally seen as the preparation race for the Le Mans 24 Hours.

As part of its contract extension with WEC, the 6 Hours of Spa on the 2019-2020 calendar has been moved forward by one week to avoid clashing with the Seoul ePrix Formula E round on May 3. The Spa round will now take place on April 23-25 2020.

It is a move backed by many WEC drivers who also participate in Formula E, including Sebastien Buemi and Jean-Eric Vergne, and a deal WEC boss Gerard Neveu is thrilled to pull off.

“We have always aimed to have as much stability in our schedule as possible and we are really delighted that both the WEC and European Le Mans Series will be returning to Spa for another four years,” Neveu, CEO of WEC, said.

“Providing our competitors and fans with the opportunity to visit top class circuits and facilities such as Spa is crucial to us, and of course it is one of the drivers’ favourite places to race at, with so much history and drama.

“We have witnessed some incredible WEC events there, although we hope we won’t have any snow in 2020!

“By moving our 2020 Total 6 Hours of Spa race forward a week we manage to avoid some clashes with other events in order to satisfy our competitors, partners, fans and media.”

The 6 Hours of Spa will host the penultimate round of the 2019-2020 WEC season following the 1000 Miles of Sebring on March 20 2020. The season, which starts next month with the 4 Hours of Silverstone (September 1), concludes at the 2020 Le Mans 24 Hours on 13-14 June. The WEC deal will run through until the end of 2024.