Rally Portugal, originally scheduled for May 21-24, has been cancelled outright due to the global coronavirus pandemic.
The Porto-based event was originally scheduled as the sixth round of the 2020 season before it was indefinitely postponed in late March.
There were efforts made to move the event to the end of October. However, the Automovel Club de Portugal issued a statement revealing to events cancellation.
“After a joint assessment together with our partners, the various municipalities, national authorities and sponsors, all health and safety conditions needed to run the WRC Vodafone Rally de Portugal in a safe way are not achievable given the unpredictable situation that we live in these days, and also the uncertainty of opening the national borders or airspace.
“Due to this critical situation, the Automovel Club de Portugal is forced to cancel the Portuguese round of the 2020 FIA World Rally Championship.
“The Automovel Club de Portugal deeply regrets this decision. But it is the responsible decision bearing in mind the thousands of supporters, teams, municipalities, sponsors and all the people involved in the event, that was responsible in 2019 for an economic impact in the national economy of more than 142 million Euros.”
The ACP has already applied for Rally Portugal to be afforded its usual May date for the 2021 season.
The Safari Rally in Kenya is the next scheduled event on the calendar on July 16-19.