The planned showcase event for the new all-electric PURE ETCR series at the Copenhagen Grand Prix is under threat, after the Danish government banned all sporting events until the end of August.
PURE ETCR had originally planned to hold its first showcase event at the Goodwood Festival of Speed on 9 – 12 July.
But with the event at Goodwood being postponed by Goodwood, the first event for the new series currently looks set to be at the Salzburging, along with the FIA World Touring Car Cup, on 24 – 26 July.
Copenhagen was to be the third showcase event on 1 – 2 August, but the organisers are now looking into their options to stage that event in 2020 after the Danish government ban on events until the end of August, in light of the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic.
“Mette Frederiksen [Danish Prime Minister] reported on the opening of Denmark on the basis of COVID-19,” said a statement from Jac Nelleman of the Copenhagen Grand Prix organiser on social media.
“In this regard, she has stated that the ban on large congregations will extend until August. Of course, this has meant that several of this year’s festivals have been cancelled, but we are now awaiting a definition of large assemblies that were also mentioned.
“For this reason, we are currently looking at the possibility of how to deal with the serious situation, and of course, in the future, we will look at all possibilities.
“Until it is more clearly defined, we will continue as before, and at this time we will not cancel the CHGP of the year.
“We are monitoring the situation and making a decision this month.”
The fourth promotional event for PURE-ETCR is scheduled to take place in South Korea at the Inje Speedium on 16 – 18 October.
Whilst there would potentially be a large enough gap in the calendar to stage the Copenhagen event in September if such a situation arose, its viability depends on how PURE ETCR plans its logistical operation to Korea.
Typically, WTCR teams have their equipment shipped to Asia by sea freight. As PURE ETCR is also organised by the same promoter, Eurosport Events, and also shares the bill with WTCR in Korea in October, shipping would be expected to be shared between the two series.
As such, should the Copenhagen event be moved to September it could impact the viability of PURE ETCR, which would then have to organise its own logistics.
TouringCars.Net has approached PURE ETCR for comment.