The start of this year’s Fanatec GT World Challenge Asia Powered by AWS season has been postponed until the second half of 2021 at the earliest.

 
Current international travel restrictions combined with ongoing domestic coronavirus measures have made it impossible to begin the season as planned in Malaysia on May 28-30. The subsequent rounds scheduled for Sepang (June 18-20), Chang International Circuit (Thailand, July 2-4) and Twin Ring Motegi (Japan, August 6-8) can no longer take place as originally planned, either.

SRO Motorsports Group still intends to stage races in the region this year, but only if key components such as travel restrictions and quarantine measures are deemed acceptable. The safety of drivers, team personnel and staff remains of utmost priority.

A definitive decision on whether to hold both existing Chinese events at Shanghai (September 10-12) and Zhuhai (October 15-17) will be made over the coming months. This conclusion will also determine whether other rounds are rescheduled and/or added in the autumn.

Benjamin Franassovici, championship co-director: “Generally, the global outlook is positive, as evidenced by GT World Challenge America, Australia and Europe all staging their opening events over the last month. However, Asia’s championship is logistically and geographically more complex to organise and requires a clearer outlook across the region before we can go racing. 

“We still very much hope to stage events before the end of this season and remain committed to finding solutions that will allow us to do so. But we are also already looking closely at 2022 and hope to announce next year’s calendar in the coming months.”

Asia’s postponement does not impact SRO’s other continental championships in Europe, America and Australia which jointly comprise the global Fanatec GT World Challenge Powered by AWS.