World Endurance Championship/Formula E date clash nears solution

WEC boss Gerard Neveu has revealed that the German race scheduled for July 16 could be moved back one week now that Formula 1's July 30 German Grand Prix is happening at Hockenheim rather than the Nurburgring.

A July 23 date for the WEC race would put it on the weekend between the two North American Formula E races in New York and then Montreal.

"The technical reason for moving our event forward one week from this year was that we could not have the race at the Nurburgring less than two weeks before the grand prix," Neveu told Autosport.

"We have informed the FIA, Alejandro Agag [Formula E boss] and the drivers who do that series who are in our paddock that we are ready to do this."

But Neveu stressed that he needed guarantees that the German F1 fixture would not be moved forward.

"There is an asterisk against Hockenheim and I need to know that it will not move to July 23," he explained.

"As long as the F1 is not on that date, we have no problem moving."

Neveu said that any change to the WEC calendar would not be firmed up until the next meeting of the FIA's World Motor Sport Council in December.

Sam Bird, who races for Ferrari in the WEC and DS Virgin in Formula E, welcomed the news that the two series are unlikely to incorporate conflicting dates in 2017.

"It's good news for us as drivers, so let's hope the solution works," he said.

The Nurburgring WEC round originally clashed with the Formula E double-header in Montreal prior to its straight swap of dates with the New York event.

Reigning FE champion Sebastien Buemi had admitted his Toyota WEC commitments would have taken priority had the clash remained.