IndyCar will open its delayed season on June 6 in Texas without fans in attendance and with strict guidelines to protect the participants amid the COVID-19 pandemic, it said on Thursday. IndyCar, which postponed racing in mid-March over concerns about the novel coronavirus, said the Genesys 300 at Texas Motor Speedway (TMS) will now be a one-day event that includes practice, qualifying and the race.

Sports fans and players across the world frustrated by cancelled matches because of the coronavirus epidemic are turning to e-sports, with professional real-world athletes joining virtual game tournaments of football, auto racing and basketball.

Americans have had a long-standing love affair with the car but the romance of Formula One, that sets hearts of motor sports fans around the world a flutter, has never managed to get pulses racing in the United States.