The San Marino Grand Prix, one of two Formula 1 races traditionally held in Italy each year, was excluded on Tuesday from the sport's official calendar for 2007.
Italian fans had expected that the San Marino race, held at the Imola circuit for the last 26 years, would be scheduled for April 29 as the fourth grand prix of the season.
Sagis, the company which manages the Imola track, downplayed the news, saying the exclusion was temporary and connected to scheduled restructuring of the circuit's facilities.
It said it had assurances from Formula 1 boss Bernie Ecclestone that the race would be restored to the calendar when the restructuring work began.
The shape of the calendar issued by Formula 1's governing body, the International Automobile Federation (FIA), appeared to support that claim.
The list of race dates appeared to have a gap on April 29, the expected San Marino date. It passed directly from the Bahrain Grand Prix on April 15 to the Spanish Grand prix a month later.
Normally grands prix are spaced at intervals of two weeks.
"Everything seems to have been arranged so as to tell us: if you put things straight, you'll still have your slot," said Imola Mayor Massimo Marchignoli.
Marchignoli is a member of the board of Sagis and the official put in charge of a 10-milion-euro restructuring project at the stadium. He said work on the paddock, planned by an aide of Ecclestone would begin on October 2. Several figures from the Italian Formula 1 world expressed the hope that the San Marino Grand Prix would be reinstated by a meeting of F1 authorities on October 18. "We at Ferrari are very fond of Imola. Losing it would be a pity, not just for us but for Italian racing in general," Ferrari test driver Luca Badoer said.
The Imola track, not far from the Italian group's headquarters in Maranello, is named after Ferrari's founder Enzo and his son Dino.
F1 driver Jarno Trulli, who races for Toyota, also said he would be sorry if the race were dropped: "As an Italian driver I would like there to be as many grands prix in Italy as possible."
