It might not be until April 3-5 and the MotoGP of the Americas in Austin, Texas, that racing will be possible in this year’s world championships.
As the global outbreak of coronavirus continues to develop, the weekend’s opening round of the series in Qatar and the second round in Thailand in two weeks’ time have had to be postponed.
The FIM, IRTA and Dorna said it regretted to announce that the Qatar event at the weekend and the Thai event, round two of the series due to be held in Buriram on March 22, have had to be postponed.
This is probably not the last disruption that we will see to the 20202 season.
The FIM, IRTA and Dorna are currently evaluating if an alternative date is possible for the events later this season.
That means the first MotoGP race of the year is now set for Austin, Texas from April 3-5 – assuming no new restrictions are applied by the US government – and Carmelo Ezpeleta, CEO of MotoGP commercial rights holder Dorna Sports, said he still ‘aims’ to hold all 20-rounds, but admits the situation is changing ‘day-by-day’.
“We had received indication from the authorities in Qatar that, due to the situation in Italy and around the world, everyone of Italian nationality or residents of Italy arriving from there needs to be sure they haven’t been in Italy during the last 14 days.
“In those cases, it’s not that entrance to Qatar is forbidden, but anyone who has been in Italy in the last 14 days is advised that they will be quarantined for 14 days in Qatar. Obviously that’s not possible for our people, and this was what led us to cancel the MotoGP category at the Grand Prix of Qatar. Because Moto2 and Moto3 have been testing this week in Qatar, it was possible to continue with the championship but only with Moto2 and Moto3, as well as the Asia Talent Cup.
“We have been speaking to the authorities in Thailand all weekend and they advised us that there would be a meeting to decide which events can happen in Thailand. It’s not related to Italians or anyone of any other nationality going to Thailand, it’s that they have decided to cancel big events with large numbers of spectators. It’s different to the situation with Qatar, so we decided to postpone the Thailand Grand Prix and try to locate a date at the end of the year to make the GP possible.
“There will absolutely be a 2020 MotoGP season. We will try to continue with everything and stay aware of the situation because it’s changing day by day, but our wish is to do all the races in the 2020 season.”
As the situation is currently, it is likely that the first MotoGP race of the year will be in Texas on April 3-5, but that is also seen as being in doubt, as is the following round in Argentina.
Rumours persist that the 2020 MotoGP season might not begin until the opening European round at Jerez, in Spain, in May.
Things are changing on an almost daily basis. Watch this space.
Photo courtesy MotoGP
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