It is now official : the 24 Hours of le Mans will take place without public on 19 and 20 September, as announced by the organizers in a press release on Monday 10 August. A decision taken because of the uncertainties of the pandemic Covid-19. In this missive, the Automobile Club de l'ouest (ACO), wrote : "While many solutions have been envisaged to organize the 88th edition of the 24 Hours of le Mans, in September next, in the presence of the public in limited numbers on the site, the ACO and the prefecture of the Sarthe, in close collaboration with different experts in the health situation, today announce the holding of the classic le mans, without an audience, the 19 and 20 September next. "

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The legendary race, originally scheduled on 13 and 14 June, had been postponed to mid-September for health reasons, in the face of the spread of the new coronavirus. Organizers hoped the presence of the public in the fall, while the gauge in the stadiums in France is maintained at 5 000 people until the end of August, the prefects, however, can grant waivers to increase this limit.

"The uncertainties are still too many"

" During these last few weeks, we have thought of many options to share our event with our fans, even in limited number, on-site next September. However, the conditions of reception specific to our event, a real popular festival for several days, we have to opt with the prefecture for the organization of our 24 Hours without an audience this year ", regretted Pierre Fillon, president of ACO. "The uncertainties are still too many for our race-festival. However, we do not want to make any compromise with the security. Even if the consequences of this decision are sad for our fans and for us, the decision has not been difficult to stop because we don't want to take any risk ", he added. "The owners of the tickets (general public and members ACO) will be contacted by the ticket office to confirm they have it," said the Automobile Club of the West.

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The other two races of the legend of motor sport are also affected by the consequences of the pandemic Covid-19 : the Indianapolis 500, on the legendary oval, north-american, will take place without public on August 23 (the race was first scheduled for 24 may), while the Formula 1 Grand Prix of Monaco has just been cancelled.