An accident in a GT Asia support race at the Shanghai International Circuit earlier today inflicted serious damage to the barrier and its supporting posts.

To ensure the stringent safety requirements are maintained, Eurosport Events, the WTCC promoter, and the FIA made the decision to postpone qualifying until 08h40 tomorrow.

This will allow the full repair of the barrier and the rebuilding of the safety posts  to be completed to the required standard, a process that will take several hours.

“Safety will always remain the number one priority and we cannot ever compromise on it,” said François Ribeiro, the WTCC General Manager. “This is obviously not ideal for the teams, the spectators and broadcasters but we have had to postpone qualifying in the last 10 years due to exceptional circumstances and we still put on a successful event. It will be the same here in Shanghai.”