Just hours after the Brno circuit announced that it would not be hosting World Championship motorcycle racing, another MotoGP round bites the dust.
In this case, though, it is merely a postponement for a year, with the Thai government announcing that the Buriram round of MotoGP will not take place in 2021, but that the five year contract has been shifted along a year.
According to a story in the Bangkok Post. the Thai government has reached an agreement with Dorna to skip the race in 2021, but to extend their contract to host MotoGP to cover the period from 2022 to 2026.
The 2021 race has been canceled due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, but Thailand remains committed to hosting a race for the next five years, and so the cancellation has been turned into an expansion of the current contract.
The Bangkok Post story contains some interesting details, normally missing from contract announcements. A spokesperson for the Thai government told the Bangkok Post that the fee to host the race would be 900 million Thai Baht for the five years.
At the current exchange rate, that is approximately €25 million for five years, or €5 million a year. That is lower than the between €6 million and €9 million being asked of most other circuits.
It was an investment worth making, however. The Thai government said that the 2018 race generated 3 billion Baht, or €83 million, while the revenue from the 2019 race increased to 3.45 billion Baht, or over €95 million.
Dorna has yet to make an announcement on the cancellation of the Buriram MotoGP round. That may come tomorrow, Wednesday, February 3rd, or it may come later.
The chances are that the Mandalika circuit in Indonesia, currently a reserve circuit, will replace Buriram on the calendar for 2021.
Such a move would be subject to the project being completed on time, and receiving FIM approval. And of course, it would be subject to the vagaries of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Source: Bangkok Post
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