The season finale of the FIA GT1 Sports Car Championship scheduled at the Buddh International Circuit (BIC) in December has been put off, an official of the BIC owners, Jaypee Group, said Monday.

Askari Zaidi, vice-president of corporate communication at Jaypee Group, told IANS that the race scheduled for Dec 2 will not take place this year, as it has been communicated to them by the GT1 promoters SRO Motorsports Group.

“Their main sponsor has backed out. FIA (world motorsports body) is trying to sort out the issue with them. It is unlikely that the race will happen this year. We are hopeful things will be worked out in 2013,” said Zaidi.

SRO has been under financial stress for sometime now, cancelling the two rounds in China and trimming the 10-round series to eight. The series started with a car 22-car grid in 2010 and was reduced to 18 in the subsequent year.
The Stephane Ratel led SRO group has confirmed their disassociation with GT1 from next year.

The event not taking place at BIC gives Jaypee an option of hosting another racing series during that time.
Zaidi, however, said their focus is on the second Formula One India Grand Prix next month and the inaugural round of the Superbike World Championship in March 2013.