There are only a few things in this world a Porsche 919 can’t beat—like the Pope.
The World Endurance Championship had to bump its preseason Prologue test at Monza back a week to avoid clashing with His Holiness, reports Daily Sportscar. A papal visit to Monza is planned for the WEC’s original March 24-25 dates.
The WEC Prologue is a lot like IMSA’s Roar Before the 24 in America: it’s the first big, official test before the season starts, where all the season’s machinery is all in one place for the first time.
Pope Francis’ visit causes insurmountable security and organizational issues for the WEC Prologue. It’s simply not ideal to run a test while Monza’s roads, hotels and everything else in town is clogged with the Catholic faithful. Not only would the extra traffic make it more difficult for crew members to pop into town for more zip ties, but it could affect emergency vehicles’ response time in the event of a major incident on track.
As a result, the WEC Prologue has been nudged to April 1-2. The European Le Mans Series tests will not be changing dates, so they now run at Monza before the WEC guys get there on March 28-29.