Sad news for local motorsport fans as Kyalami has been dropped from the provisional 2021 FIA WEC calendar, according to the official site of the series. The FIA World Endurance Championship was supposed to make its first visit to Africa early in 2021. The 6 Hours of Kyalami was due to take place on February 6, 2021 at the Midrand Circuit.

Follow Double Apex on Instagram and Facebook where we share more car content.

Order from our online store and take advantage of free delivery in South Africa on orders over R349.

Advert

This event would have given local race fans their first chance to see the purpose-built endurance racers and GTE machines battle on local soil. These are the very same racers that are competing at the 88th 24 Hours of Le Mans in France this weekend. SA fans would have been the first to see the new generation hypercars in competition (click here to learn more about the new rules and the cars eligible).

View our bespoke image galleries from the 2019 Kyalami 9 Hour by clicking here for Part One and here for Part Two.

The six races of the 2021 FIA WEC calendar will take place in North America, Europe, Asia and the Middle East. Sebring, Spa, Fuji and Bahrain are all returning venues, with Monza in Italy (the site of the Formula One race) being a new addition. The jewel in the crown is, as usual, the prestigious 24 Hours of Le Mans which will take place in its traditional slot in June. The races will vary in length between 6 and 24 hours.

In his own words

Gérard Neveu, CEO of the WEC: “We listened to our manufacturers, teams and partners and responded with a calendar featuring fewer events than in the past to allow them all time to deal with the current economic crisis. We will revise this upwards again in the future, as and when the health situation and the economy allows us to do so – hopefully from 2022 onwards. The calendar also takes into account our logistical road map as it provides our teams with the most cost-effective package possible.”