The Tønsberg Båtrace which is still progressing to be held over the weekend of August 7-9 will not only be running a radical new format for the event it will also have to comply with the ‘new normal’, life after the pandemic.

Frode Sundsdal and Joyce Christine Andersen, the organiser’s of the race have been working with the health authorities in their area to ensure that the highly popular event can be staged in the Norwegian town.

Sundsdal told me today:

It’s great that we have got the health green light to go after all of the uncertainty over the last few months.

There will of course be changes from the previous events that Joyce and I have staged.

We are particularly lucky to have so many spectators that watch the action, however, we will have to have marshals to ensure that there are no bunched up crowds.

Our VIP areas are always popular, in August we can only issue 200 tickets and we will have to limit the number of people that are in the dry pit area at any one time.

In that area we will be obliged to provide hand sanitiser and other relevant cleaning products, there will of course be social distancing to observe everywhere else.

Sundsdal already announced back in December that the event this year will not host a round of the UIM F2 world championship, but the enthusiast organiser and racer has already started to draw up a mouth watering line-up of international racing talent which will include 2-time UIM F2 European champion, Edgaras Riabko.

As for the world series, Riabko said on Sundsdal’s weekly chat show last Sunday, that the 2020 championship could comprise of three events, Lithuania and Portugal in September and Abu Dhabi in early December.