MotoGP Releases Revised 2020 Calendar with 13 Races

There is a plan for the 2020 MotoGP season. With the COVID-19 outbreak receding all across Europe, Dorna has been given a second chance at setting a calendar for the 2020 MotoGP season.

The newly published calendar will see 13 races held at circuits in Europe in the first instance, with the possibility of four overseas races being tacked on at the end of the year, if conditions permit.

The calendar is explictly still provisional, subject to local rules and regulations concerning the COVID-19 pandemic.

The races will be held at 8 different circuits in 6 countries, with a number of circuits hosting races on two consecutive weekends, to maximize the number of rounds held, and minimize logistical complications.

The races planned in Europe will all be held behind closed doors, with no fans or media present, and a very restricted number of paddock staff present.

Although four overseas races are scheduled, only two are expected to be possible.

Thailand and Sepang are the two races which are most likely to go ahead, while Argentina and Austin are still on the calendar, but not canceled yet.

In the most positive case, however, only three overseas races will go ahead: the FIM press release says explicitly that there will be a maximum of 17 races, including the Qatar round already held back on March 8th, at which only the Moto2 and Moto3 classes were present.

The overseas races will only happen if they can be organized as normal, with fans allowed to attend. Given the much higher costs of the flyaways, the circuits would need fans to attend to be able to cover the costs of flying teams and equipment out of Europe to Asia or the Americas and back.

A decision on whether it will be possible to hold the overseas races, and which races can be held, will be taken by the end of July.

The season kicks off at Jerez, with a one-day test on the Wednesday before the first race. All three classes will get a chance to ride during the test, with the MotoGP class getting the bulk of the track time. Two rounds of racing follow, on consecutive weekends, July 19th and July 26th.

After a week off, the paddock heads north to Brno, for a single race in the Czech Republic on August 9th, the originally scheduled date. They then trek south to the Red Bull Ring in Spielberg, for two rounds in Austria, on August 16th and 23rd.

The paddock then gets two whole weekends off, before reconvening in Misano, for two more rounds on consecutive weekends, on September 13th and 20th. They then rush across the Mediterranean to Barcelona, for a single race on September 27th.

After another week off, the Grand Prix Paddock heads north again, this time to Le Mans in France, for a race on October 11th. They then reverse course and come south again, for two weekends at Aragon, on the 18th and 25th of October.

If MotoGP doesn’t head to Asia or America, then the season will culminate with two rounds at Valencia, on November 8th and 15th. If it is possible for fans to attend, then the scenario currently being planned for is that MotoGP will head to Buriram in Thailand for a race on November 29th, with the final round of 2020 on December 6th at Sepang, Malaysia.

That would please the Sepang International Circuit, as they have been vying to take over the spot as the last Grand Prix on the calendar for a number of years now.

If a date in the Americas is added, then the dates for Thailand and Sepang will likely be pushed back a week, with the calendar finishing at Sepang on December 13th.

The Provisional 2020 MotoGP Calendar:

* Scheduled, but believed unlikely to happen
** Subject to fans being allowed to attend. Events and dates to be confirmed before the 31 of July.
*** Expected dates, subject to confirmation.

The 2020 season will not finish later than the 13th of December and will have a maximum of 17 events (including the Qatar Grand Prix).

All dates, events and the eventual attendance of spectators are subject to the evolution of the pandemic and the approval of the corresponding Governments and authorities.