MOTOGP CANCELLED
2020 MotoGP calendar slashed again as Silverstone, Phillip Island and Motegi are canned
No home GP in 2020,
The 2020 MotoGP calendar has lost three of its most spectacular races following confirmation that the British GP at Silverstone, the Phillip Island race in Australia and the Motegi round in Japan have been cancelled. It’s a bitter blow for fans who were clinging on to the outside chance of a British race going ahead in August, especially given that two F1 races at Silverstone have been given the green light. “Despite months of work to try and make this key event happen, logistical restrictions under the current situation, combined with a shortened and rearranged MotoGP calendar, have caused the cancellation,” explained Silverstone CEO Stuart Pringle. The cancellation means that for the first time in MotoGP’s 71 year history there will be no round on UK soil. It also brings an end to the run of races hosted by Silverstone when the series returned to the Northamptonshire track in 2010. Attention now turns to what races will go ahead in 2020. The current plan is for racing to kick off in Jerez on July 17-19 with round two of the series also being held at Jerez the following weekend. While the MotoGP paddock is clearly working to these dates (KTM resumed testing last week – see separate story) there is still no confirmation that the Spanish government has agreed to Dorna’s revised protocol for social distancing and heavily reduced number of paddock personnel – from over 3000 to 1300 - for running the behind-closed-doors races. Beyond the opening two rounds, no other dates have been confirmed, but MCN understands there are plans for back-to-back races to be staged in the Red Bull Ring, Misano, Motorland Aragon and Valencia. While Brno in the Czech Republic, which recently lifted travel restrictions, Barcelona and Le Mans remain a possibility. A revised and provisional calendar is expected in the coming weeks with Dorna boss Carmelo Ezpeleta already confirming that all racing will remain in Europe until midNovember at the earliest.
The sport’s governing body, the FIM, have already confirmed that the series would need to run to a minimum of 13 rounds to be officially classed as a world championship, but with the plan for back-to-back races it remains possible that this number could be reached, despite the latest Silverstone, Phillip Island and Motegi casualties. Dorna, who are also the promoters of WSB, have announced plans for the production-based championship to re-start having been able to complete the opening round of the series at Phillip Island, pre lockdown. Round two is now scheduled to take place at Jerez, one week after the second MotoGP round on July 31 to August 2, making it three consecutive weeks of action at the Spanish circuit.
The latest proposals are for the WSB circus to move directly from Jerez to Portimao in Portugal for August 7-9 before returning to Spain for the Aragon race on August 28-30.
Despite the UK round at Donington Park and the Assen round in the Netherlands already being postponed, Dorna are still working to try to find a solution to host these races towards the end of the year.