This year’s GT World Challenge Asia season finale at the Mandalika International Street Circuit has been cancelled.
The 2022 calendar will instead feature ten 60-minute races across five events and conclude at the existing Okayama round in Japan on September 23-25.
Mandalika is located on Lombok island in Indonesia and opened in late 2021. It has already hosted MotoGP and Superbike World Championship rounds thanks to its FIM ‘A’ grade status.
However, SRO Motorsports Group understands that modifications required to homologate the track for car racing will not be completed before GT World Challenge Asia is due to visit on October 21-23. Attempts to postpone the event, as well as find an alternative venue and date, have also proven unsuccessful.
As such, SRO has taken the difficult but unavoidable decision to cancel the event and cap its 2022 season at 10 races.
Benjamin Franassovici, Championship Director: “This is a very unfortunate situation and certainly one we had not envisaged when the calendar was announced last December. We have been aware of the homologation issue for some time and have tried to find solutions that would allow us to either visit Mandalika as planned or delay our Indonesian debut by a month.”
“However, and having exhausted all possible avenues for 2022, we have no choice but to cancel this year’s event.
“I know this will come as a disappointment to our teams and drivers, but also the Indonesian fans who were eagerly anticipating GT World Challenge Asia’s event at Mandalika. We hope the issue can be resolved and the necessary assurances made so that we can explore the option of racing there next year.”
The championship’s 2022 season continues at Sportsland SUGO on August 19-21 before concluding one month later at Okayama.
2022 CALENDAR
May 20-22 // Sepang International Circuit // 2x 60min races
July 15-17 // Suzuka International Circuit // 2x 60min races (inc. Japan Cup)
July 22-24 // Fuji International Speedway // 2x 60min races (inc. Japan Cup)
August 19-21 // Sportsland Sugo // 2x 60min races (inc. Japan Cup)
September 23-25 // Okayama International Circuit // 2x 60min races (inc. Japan Cup)