Thailand MotoGP event cancelled

Thailand MotoGP event cancelled

But organisers confirm Buri Ram will be a race venue through 2026

MotoGP competitors race at the Chang International Circuit in Buri Ram in 2019. (Post File Photo)
MotoGP competitors race at the Chang International Circuit in Buri Ram in 2019. (Post File Photo)

The Thailand Grand Prix and two other MotoGP races in Malaysia and Argentina have been cancelled for this year, organisers announced on Friday.

The Thailand event, at the Chang International Circuit in Buri Ram, was originally scheduled to take place on March 22 but was postponed to Oct 4 because of the outbreak of coronavirus.

But with new cases surging in many parts of the world, the sport’s governing body has decided to axe more events, although promoters said one more race would be added to the calendar and held in Europe in November.

A number of races have been axed this season due to the coronavirus outbreak, including the Qatar, Dutch, German, Finnish, British, Australian, Japanese, Italian and American rounds.

“The FIM, IRTA and Dorna Sports regret to announce the cancellation of the Gran Premio Motul de la Republica Argentina, OR Thailand Grand Prix and Shell Malaysia Motorcycle Grand Prix in 2020,” MotoGP said in a joint statement with the governing body FIM and the teams’ association IRTA.

“After the Gran Premio Motul de la Comunitat Valenciana, another race weekend will take place from the November 20 to 22 at a venue in Europe, becoming the 2020 season finale.”

The host venue in Europe has not yet been decided and will be confirmed on Aug 10.

The season restarted earlier this month with back-to-back races at the Jerez circuit in Spain. The country will host seven races as part of the revised European calendar while four more circuits are set to host double-headers.

Promoter Dorna Sports added that the Thai Grand Prix would remain on the MotoGP calendar until at least 2026 and that it had started work on discussing possible dates for races in Argentina and Malaysia next year.

Fabio Quartararo of Petronas Yamaha leads the world championship standings after winning the first two races in Jerez while Maverick Vinales of Yamaha is second, 10 points behind.

Defending champion Marc Marquez of Repsol Honda is yet to open his account after crashing in the season-opening race and missing the second race after failing to recover from surgery to a broken arm.

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