Kyalami, Monza Confirmed on New-Look 2020-21 Schedule

Kyalami and Monza will host FIA World Endurance Championship races for the first time after being confirmed on the provisional calendar for the 2020-21 season.

The two former World Sportscar Championship venues will each hold a six-hour race in the ninth season of the current WEC that will start at Silverstone on Sept. 5 as a Saturday race.

Kyalami, which takes up an early February 2021 date, last hosted a world championship endurance race in 1984 and an FIA world championship race of any kind in 1993.

The former South African Grand Prix venue near Johannesburg recently returned to the global motorsports calendar as the final round of the Intercontinental GT Challenge powered by Pirelli.

Last month, WEC CEO Gerard Neveu, who was present at the recent IGTC race, told Sportscar365 that the championship was “seriously considering” a future race in Africa.

Monza, meanwhile, is slated to host a six-hour race in early October that will evoke the classic 1000km of Monza enduro first held in 1954.

The Italian circuit is now set to hold two ACO long-distance races next year with the WEC round taking place five months after the European Le Mans Series visits.

The additions of Kyalami and Monza have resulted in Shanghai International Circuit dropping off the schedule after hosting the WEC on eight consecutive occasions.

Shanghai has been an ever-present since its inclusion on the season one calendar in 2012 but the Chinese venue’s November slot will now be taken up by Fuji which moves to a later date in the year.

The omission of Shanghai, which was first reported last month, and the non-inclusion of either Sao Paulo or Circuit of The Americas keeps next season’s calendar at eight rounds.

The returning events from the current 2019-20 schedule are the 8 Hours of Bahrain, 1000 Miles of Sebring, 6 Hours of Spa and the 24 Hours of Le Mans.

The pre-season test will take place on Aug. 31 – Sept. 1, the week prior to the Silverstone season-opener.

Thursday’s schedule announcement details remain provisional until approved by the FIA World Motor Sport Council, which next meets in Geneva on March 6.

2020-21 FIA WEC Schedule:
Sept. 5 – 6H Silverstone
Oct. 4 – 6H Monza
Nov. 1 – 6H Fuji 
Dec. 5 – 8H Bahrain
Feb. 6 – 6H Kyalami
March 19 – 1000 Miles of Sebring
April 24 – 6H Spa
Jun. 12-13 – 24H Le Mans