The WEC has already had to cancel the 1,000 miles of Sebring twice because of the Corona pandemic: why series boss Frederic Lequien is confident this time
Will the second edition of the joint FIA WEC and IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship Super Sebring event finally take place this year? In contrast to previous years, Frederic Lequien, head of the World Endurance Championship, is optimistic.
“There is no reason to panic: We are confident that Sebring will take place.” “We don’t have any specific warnings, just some small delays in transport – which is the same all over the world – but nothing that could jeopardise the Sebring event.”
After premiering the double event in 2019, the event fell victim to the Corona pandemic in the past two years. In March 2020, social life around the world came to a standstill due to the first wave, which is why the cancellation came just a week before it was scheduled to take place.
Following this, the then WEC CEO Gerard Neveu addressed the fans of the World Endurance Championship in an open letter. Even the IMSA series had to postpone its endurance classic. The 12h Sebring finally took place as the season finale in November 2020.
The case was somewhat different in the previous year. Again, although entry restrictions to the USA played a part, the race was cancelled two months before it was scheduled to take place and IMSA went it alone at Sebring. As a replacement for the 1,000 miles of Sebring, the 8-hour race in Portimao was added to the WEC calendar.
WEC boss Frederic Lequien: “Green light now” for entry
“A year ago it was easy to make a decision because it was almost impossible to go there because of the closed US border,” recalls Lequien “Now we have the green light. Compared to last year, there’s no reason to worry unless the US government decides in a month that everything will be closed.”
Currently, however, the omicron variant of the SARS CoV-2 virus is also rampant in the US state of Florida, where Sebring is located. A total of 430,297 cases were recorded in the week of 7-13 January, an increase of 33,944 cases from the week before.
15,067,643 residents, or 72.4 per cent of the US state’s population, have received at least one vaccine dose so far, according to official figures. Of these, 12,964,043 people have been fully vaccinated or boostered.
The 1,000 miles of Sebring is scheduled to be the season opener of the 2022 WEC. The first race of the year is scheduled to take place on Friday, 18 March. The WEC paddock will already gather at Sebring International Raceway the weekend before (12/13 March) for the Prologue, the official pre-season testing.
