Swine flu strikes A1GP season climax

A1GP World Cup of Motorsport has been forced to cancel round eight of the 2008/09 season in Mexico City on 22-24 May after the recent outbreak of swine flu.

The A1GP cargo was due to be flown out to Mexico directly after the Brands Hatch race this weekend but advice from the UK Foreign Office to cancel non-essential travel to the country prevented this from happening.

“To say we are disappointed to have to make this call is an understatement,” said A1GP Chairman Tony Teixeira. “When the news of the health problems broke last week we made sure we kept ourselves up to date with the latest information. We must have the safety of all members of the A1GP community as well as the thousands of loyal fans in Mexico City as our prime concern.”

“If we had flown our cars out and not been able to send the teams to run them it would have been a waste of time and money. However, this cancellation does not impact on the future of the series and once Brands Hatch is over we shall be concentrating on Season Five, for which plans are already well advanced.”

The cancellation forces the A1GP race at Brands Hatch to be the final round of the championship with three teams - A1Team Switzerland, A1 Team Ireland and A1 Team Portugal – able to claim the title.

Cases of swine flu, which originated in Mexico, have been confirmed in the United States, Canada, New Zealand, Israel, Britain, Spain and Germany.

At least 10 golfers have withdrawn from a Canadian Tour event in Mexico, and teams of Chinese and Malaysian divers have scrapped plans to compete in the United States, all due to the epidemic.

source - sportbusiness.com