CAVLE, Croatia – Due to COVID-19 restrictions, NASCAR Whelen Euro Series and Autodrom Most officials have postponed the Nov. 14-15 NASCAR GP Czech Republic to next year.
The Czech track will rejoin the Euro Series calendar in 2021 with a bigger and better Autodrom Most NASCAR show, strong of a successful first edition in 2019.
The event will be replaced – on the same dates – by the first ever NASCAR GP Croazia at Automotodrom Grobnik, on the Croatian riviera.
“In such a challenging and uncertain situation, we all have to be responsible and put safety as the top priority. Having to postpone the NASCAR GP Czech Republic is really sad, but it’s the best decision for everybody. We are already at work with our great partner Autodrom Most to offer our Central Europe fans an even better show next year,” said NWES President CEO Jerome Galpin.
“Due to epidemic restrictions issued by the Czech government for, we were forced to close the race track to the public. In this situation, and due to uncertainty of the length of the restrictions, the event cannot be organized. However, we have at least one good message for the fans. The race at Grobnik will be streamed live and we will provide the link at our Autodrom Most Facebook page,” noted Autodrom Most Marketing and Business Director Jana Svobodová.
Located in one of the most attractive touristic areas of the charming Adriatic coast of Croatia, a few minutes away from cities of Rijeka and Opatija, Automotodrom Grobnik will host round five and six of the Euro Series season on Nov. 14-15.
The 4.168-kilometer road course will offer drivers and teams a whole new challenge, with its sweeping 18-turn layout and its many elevation changes.
“We all have to adapt to this fast changing situation and we are very happy to develop a new event in Croatia with a very motivated partner at Automotodrom Grobnik,” said Galpin after visiting the track. “The Croatian riviera is just wonderful in this season, Rijeka is a perfect location and Automotodrom Grobnik is a fast, technical and fascinating track. We’re enthusiastic to offer this new challenge to NWES teams and drivers and we very much look forward to the first ever NASCAR GP Croatia.”
“Automotodrom Grobnik could not imagine a better end of season and this is for sure the first step for our track to have more attractive car events for our public. It is a proof that NWES President CEO Jerome Galpin recognized all the improvements we did in last years on the track itself but also on the facility. One of our goals is to give support to auto sport in Croatia and in the region. We have great cooperation with HAKS (Croatian Automobile and Karting Federation), and its president Mr. Davorin Štetner believes that working together with us is inevitable for the future of national motorsport and for our drivers to participate in higher level competitions. All of this makes us happy no matter of this crazy year giving us a right to believe that next season will bring new sporting challenges,” said Robert Žiković, Board Member of Automotodrom Grobnik.
Grobnik will become the 17th different track to host a NASCAR GP in Europe, while Croatia will be the ninth different country to welcome a Euro Series event.
Opened in 1978, the track hosted MotoGP races until 1990 and with its most recent updates, plays a key role in the touristic development of the Rijeka area.