MotoGP has confirmed that Thai GP has been officially postponed after the Government decided that they won’t be able to stage the race on its March date.
MotoGP informed on Sunday night about cancellation of its 2020 opener, Qatar GP, due to travel restrictions in place. Since the Moto2 and Moto3 grids were already in place, those races will continue as per schedule at Losail circuit.
Speculations around Thai GP at Chang International Circuit in Buriram on March 20-22 already started to spread, especially after its Government’s decision to not stage the grand prix on the set date. The news has now been confirmed by MotoGP.
Instead of cancelling, they have postponed the Thai GP as they try to fit the grand prix at a later stage. The changes means that the 2020 MotoGP won’t start until April 3-5 weekend, when the Grand Prix of Americas is scheduled to take place at COTA.
For now, the American race will be the 2020 MotoGP season’s first round with the Argentine round being the second. From there the championship heads to Europe, which seems safer at the moment – although Italy remains a question mark due to COVID-19 outbreak.
While MotoGP has done away with two of its races, F1 has only put off Chinese GP so far as they seem to be pushing ahead with Australian GP, Bahrain GP and also Vietnam GP – the races scheduled between March and April.
Full statement from MotoGP:
“As the global outbreak of coronavirus continues to develop, the Thai government has communicated that it won’t be possible to hold the OR Thailand Grand Prix (Thai GP) on its original date. The FIM, IRTA and Dorna therefore regret to announce that the event, due to be held on the 22nd of March in Buriram, has been postponed.
“The FIM, IRTA and Dorna are currently evaluating if an alternative date is possible for the event later this season. Further updates will be published as soon as available.”
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