2020 Season Finale Brought Forward by One Week

The final round of the 2020 European Le Mans Series at Algarve International Circuit has been moved forward a week to Oct. 16-18.

An update to next year’s calendar issued on Friday confirms that the 4 Hours of Portimao will no longer take place on the final weekend of October.

This had become a regular spot in the schedule for the Portuguese round of the ELMS, which has been held at Algarve continuously since 2017 after three editions at Estoril.

The rest of the six-round 2020 calendar remains unchanged, with the races at Barcelona, Monza, Paul Ricard, Silverstone and Spa-Francorchamps all retaining their original dates.

The championship has not given a reason for the date change, which also affects the final round of the Michelin Le Mans Cup which supports ELMS weekends.

Moving the Portimao race to the penultimate weekend in October places it one week after the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship finale at Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta.

It also avoids a clash with the season-closing round of the International GT Open series which is set to conclude at Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya on Oct. 24-25.