The FIA World Touring Car Championship will not visit the USA as planned on 14th September this year. The Championship is set to miss the Sonoma Raceway event, which was scheduled to take place for the third time, due to logistical issues.

The Championship will visit South America, at the Termas de Río Hondo circuit in Argentina in August, and then the cars and equipment will head straight to China, instead of making the journey to North America.

The reason for the change is understood to be due to an unresolvable logistical issue, with the Suzuka race unmovable due to its proximity to the FIA Formula 1 race at the circuit, and the series equipment unable to make its race date in the USA and then make it on time to China due to a scheduling conflict outside of the control of the organisers.

The calendar is still set to remain at 12 events, with an additional race in China set to take place instead at a circuit to be confirmed, in addition to the scheduled round at the Shanghai International Circuit.

The USA event would have been the third in a three year deal but with Citroen and Lada having no market in the USA, it’s commonly believed that this year’s event was already set to have been the Championship’s last in North America for the time-being.