World Championship Update
Fellow Racers
We hope that you are all well and that at least some of you have managed to get back racing. To those of you who haven't, hang on in there one would hope this virus can't last forever!!!
Although it has been pretty quiet here at iMBRA we just wanted to give you all an update on the World Championship situation.
As previously announced our intention is to run what should have been this year's WC, next year at the same venue - Gonzaga, Italy.
The provisional dates for this event will be Sunday 1st August 2021 - Saturday 14th August 2021.
We are really hoping that the virus will be under control by next Summer, but of course we do not have a crystal ball so the best we can do is keep you up to date as and when any new information emerges.
As you all know prior to this year's issues our intention was to host the WC in Italy in 2020 and the WC in Poland in 2022. When we realised that this year's WC was not going to be possible we asked FSR Polska if delaying the Polish WC by a year would be an option. Following a recent meeting between FSR Polska and the local authorities it became clear that the funding was only available until 2022 and therefore delaying by a year was not an option.
We have discussed this in detail and really did not want to miss out on the opportunity of racing at Konopiska. It is a fantastic venue and if last year's EC was anything to go by a WC there would be amazing. We therefore feel that the best option is to run back to back WC's, Italy in 2021 and Poland in 2022. We appreciate that this is not the norm but with a lack of racing this year we are hoping you will all be as enthusiastic about this decision as we are. So (provisional) dates for your diary are:
Italy WC 2021 - Sunday 1st August - Saturday 14th August
Poland WC 2022 - Sunday 31st July - Saturday 13th August
We realise that by running 2 back to back WC's it now means that each country will need to arrange their team qualification for the 2022 WC. At this stage it is impossible to know what next year will bring and whether or not we will be able to run a full season as normal, half a season etc. We ask that each country discusses this amongst themselves and comes up with their own plan of action.
There is one decision that we would advise making early on. If COVID is still prevalent at the beginning of next year and it prevents us from running the WC in Italy will the team that qualified for Italy be carried over to the WC in Poland? or due to the length of time that has passed will that team become null and void and new qualifications take place for Poland 2022? What you decide and how you choose to organise the 2022 qualifications is the sole responsibility of each individual country. iMBRA will take no part in this decision. We just wanted to ensure you are all given plenty of time to discuss the options available.
Should the 2021 WC in Italy have to be cancelled due to COVID the current wildcards and team places will be carried over to the Polish WC in 2022.
We appreciate that you may have some questions and we will do our best to answer them.
We really do hope to see you all again soon and if you can't go racing, happy building!!!!
Kind regards
The iMBRA Committee