For the first time in two years, MotoGP is headed for a flyaway race which isn’t in Qatar.
After a long period of uncertainty, and facing a certain amount of opposition from inside the Grand Prix paddock, the series is heading to the Circuit of The Americas in Austin, Texas.
After having 12 of the first 14 races all inside the same timezone (give or take an hour), a flyaway race feels like something of a novelty.
The novelty will not be quite as great as hoped for all those traveling to Austin.
The Grand Prix of the Americas, which had been moved to November 13-15th because of the coronavirus outbreak, has now been canceled.
The news comes from the track’s Instagram account, which states that the Austin round will return in 2021, on April 16-18th.
The cancelation of this year’s American round is of little surprise, as the COVID-19 situation in the United States grows more dire with each passing day, especially in Texas.
The novel coronavirus (COVID-19) continues to be a wrecking ball to the MotoGP calendar, with now the Grand Prix of the Americas being postponed because of health concerns and travel restrictions.
The announcement coming jointly from Dorna, IRTA, and the FIM is not a surprise for those following the space, and just yesterday we speculated about today’s possible news.
With Italy overnight clamping down the entire country, and and cases of the virus continuing to grow in Europe and America, today’s announced postpone seemed all but certain.
The season-opener for the MotoGP Championship is once again under doubt, as question marks over the Americas GP in Austin are beginning to grow.
The concern comes from several factors, including local government moves in Austin that happened last Friday, which saw the Texan city declare a “state of disaster” for the metropolitan area and surrounding county because of concerns regarding the global coronavirus outbreak.
Regular Asphalt & Rubber readers will know that we love to support the Two Wheels for Life charity, which helps bring medical resources and healthcare by motorcycle to remote areas in Africa. This is literally a cause that sees motorcycles making the world a better place.
The official charity of the MotoGP Championship, Two Wheels for Life has created an awesome opportunity for race fans at this year’s American GP, and we are pretty stoked to share it with you.
Basically, the whole package includes the opportunity to ride an Energica Ego Corsa MotoE race bike in front of the crowd at the Grand Prix of the Americas, along with paddock passes, grid access, pit lane access, and hospitality for two people for the race weekend.
And of course, the proceeds go to helping fund the vital work that Two Wheels for Life does in Africa.
The motorcycling world once again descended upon Austin, Texas, as motorcycle road racing came to the Circuit of the Americas and the custom bike community arrived in droves for the Handbuilt Show.
This article will give you a flavor of what went on at the racetrack, while a second article will cover the Handbuilt.
As always, the Circuit of the Americas put on a great show. The facility is truly world-class and it made for a great weekend of racing.
The great state of Texas once again hosted MotoGP and MotoAmerica this past weekend, at the Circuit of the Americas in Austin.
Dorna said that attendance was higher than last year’s number of 56,000 on race day, but did not release an actual figure. Based on my own experience, I would say that attendance was likely up the entire weekend.
Weather played a definite factor in this year’s activities, with Friday being hot and humid, while Saturday was cold, damp, and windy, which led to multiple crashes during practice and qualifying. Thankfully, the weather on Sunday was sunny and breezy, but not too windy, making for a truly beautiful race day.
The MotoGP paddock was the usual beehive of activity this weekend, with scooters darting back and forth, carrying crewmembers, racers, and photographers.
The MotoGP circus came to Austin from April 8th to 10th for its only stop in the US. Attendance for the event was good, with a 10% rise over last year’s event.
Over 131,000 fans flocked to the Circuit of the Americas (COTA) for the weekend with over 56,000 on race day. Austin was also the season-opener for the second season of MotoAmerica racing.
As usual, COTA put on a world class event. The facilities are top-notch, the racing was great, and compared to other tracks, the food was outstanding. COTA brings in a variety of goodies from many of Austin’s best food trucks, and it’s a big step up from the normal vendor faire.
Maverick Viñales is only 21-years-old, but has been racing motorcycles for 18 of those years (he started in minimotos at 3 years of age). Those 18 years of experience have brought him to where he is today; a rider in the premier class of motorcycle road racing – MotoGP.
Viñales’ record is impressive. He’s the owner of four 125cc titles at various levels, was the Rookie of the Year in Moto3 in 2011, Moto2 in 2014, and MotoGP in 2015, and most notably, was the World Champion in Moto3 in 2013.
Simply put, this man was made to race. Asphalt & Rubber had a chance to sit down with Maverick at the last round of MotoGP in Austin and it was great opportunity to talk motorcycle racing with one of the top riders in the series.
After the MotoGP round in Austin, the Paddock Pass Podcast crew (including yours truly) stayed for Suzuki’s private test at COTA, and recorded the latest episode of the show. For bonus points, Episode 23 comes with the tonal sounds of the Suzuki GSX-RR’s crossplane inline-four engine, in the background.
A lengthy show, we discuss the tire debacle in Argentina, starting with the weekend’s constantly changing schedule, the inclusion of the “safety tire” to the program, and the aftermath of all that.
We then turn our attention to the on-track action in Texas, which saw a number of riders hitting the asphalt, as they continue to learn the new Michelins. We finish the talk with some silly season speculation, some of which has already come true, and a look at the Moto2 and Moto3 paddock.
As always, be sure to follow the Paddock Pass Podcast on Facebook, Twitter and subscribe to the show on iTunes and SoundCloud – we even have an RSS feed for you. If you like the show, we would really appreciate you giving it a review on iTunes. Thanks for listening!
The large swatches of red, white, and blue paint at the Circuit of the Americas are a great visual addition to an already fairly scenic track.
Throw in a bit of elevation change, and the colors provide endless possibilities waiting to be explored.
With smooth armco and solid stripes serving as a background, a motion blur was easy to achieve. This came with a caveat, as this particular composition was also only possible with the fastest riders.
The reason for this is that the armco abruptly cuts off mid-corner, followed immediately by unsightly plastic crash barriers that required a substantially slower shutter speed to smooth out.
Slower riders didn’t get their bikes down at full lean until they were past the armco, which yielded very different results.
I tend to gravitate towards abstract compositions that intentionally obscure the location on the track. Any educated guesses as to Dani Pedrosa’s whereabouts?