General admission for Sunday’s IndyCar season-opening Grand Prix of St. Petersburg has been banned and the race is under threat due to the coronavirus outbreak.
While Penske Entertainment CEO Mark Miles told Autosport last weekend that he didn’t expect the ’20 IndyCar calendar to be affected by what has since been classified by the World Health Organization as a pandemic, significant changes have occurred throughout motorsport since.
Despite Wednesday morning’s news conference in which St. Petersburg mayor Rick Kriseman and event promoter Kevin Savoree insisted that that the GP of St. Petersburg was still going ahead on schedule, any events involving large crowds have been coming under increasing scrutiny as individual states seek to contain the virus – with it recommend people stay at least six feet from each other.
Kriseman, explaining the overnight change of heart, said: “Since yesterday, we’ve learned of a coronavirus case at an open-air event similar to ours, [Daytona] Bike Week.
“Then at an EMS conference across the Bay from us.
The Tampa Bay Times continued to quote Kriseman, stating: “The World Health Organization has since called this a global pandemic.
“My most important job is public safety and health. It is for that reason that we are cancelling general attendance at the (Grand Prix).
“We are working with the promoters and IndyCar and will have more announcements later as to whether the race itself will run.
“I don’t make this decision lightly. I strongly believe life must carry on, as best we are able.
“But the reality now is that’s just not possible. I am disappointed. I love this race. But I love this city and our residents more.”
Street course races such as St. Petersburg are harder to police, since crowds would gather at the perimeter of the track anyway, and local communities are unlikely to tolerate the inconvenience of shutdown streets without being able to attend the event itself.
The Grand Prix of St. Petersburg, which has become the traditional season-opener for IndyCar, is one of the most popular events on the series’ calendar, and this year’s race would have marked the 17th edition.
Kriseman’s announcement comes on the same morning Miami-Dade County announced the suspension of all mass gatherings, causing NASCAR to postpone its 22 March race at Homestead.
Elsewhere in America, the National Basketball League (NBA) has suspended its season after a player from the Utah Jazz team tested positive for COVID-19.