MOTOGP RELEASES NEW 2020 CALENDAR

Following the partially-completed season opener at Qatar, 13 rounds have been announced for MotoGP, Moto2 and Moto3. All rounds will be held on the continent, including several ‘double header’ grands prix held on successive weekends at the same circuit. With the inclusion of TBC flyaway rounds, the 13-round championship could stretch to 17, but according to Dorna, there will be no more than 17 rounds this year.

All dates remain provisional, subject to the evolution of the coronavirus pandemic and ongoing government and health authority advice, as does the allowance for spectators should each round go ahead. The opening few rounds are likely to be closed-gate events, with no spectators and only the minimum team and event personnel admitted.

Spain will account for more than half of the new calendar’s rounds, including the opening double header at Jerez on 19 and 26 July. Catalunya will host a single round, with double headers at Aragon and Valencia.

San Marino and Austria will host double headers, while the French GP, which had already been postponed and looked like being cancelled, has been reinstated. The Czech Republic remains, too, and is the only round to more or less hold its place from the original 2020 calendar.

Flyaway rounds in the USA, Argentina, Thailand and Malaysia are on the new calendar, but remain unconfirmed, with no dates attached. Dorna states that a decision on flyaways will be made by 31 July. Should they go ahead, all will be held between 22 November and 13 December.

Should the provisional flyaway rounds be cancelled, they will join the German, Dutch, Finnish, Italian, British, Japanese and Australian grands prix in being axed.

Qatar, which hosted the opening round for Moto2 and Moto3 in March before the pandemic hit, has not been listed as an option for MotoGP. That means this year’s championship will likely see the intermediate classes complete one round more than the premier class; a situation unprecedented in modern MotoGP history.

Whether rounds will be condensed into 2-day affairs, as has been the case with some other motorsport categories, has not been confirmed, nor has the possibility of changes to race formats.