MotoGP: Season to resume with back-to-back races in Spain, organisers announce revised schedule

The MotoGP season stalled by the novel coronavirus pandemic will begin with back-to-back races at the Jerez circuit in Spain on 19 and 26 July, the sport’s governing body said on Thursday. [caption id=“attachment_7345751” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Representational image. AFP[/caption] Five circuits will host double-headers and there will be a total of seven races in Spain as part of the revised 13-round European calendar for the 2020 season. Eight races have been cancelled so far this season including the Qatar, Dutch, German, Finnish, British, Australian, Japanese and Italian rounds. The third round will take place in the Czech Republic on 9 August before two races in Austria on 16 and 23 August. Misano will then host two rounds in September. MotoGP said a minimum of 12 rounds would be held in the championship. The total number of races could increase to 17 with four outside Europe between 22 November and 13 December. The only long-haul races yet to be cancelled due to the pandemic are those in Thailand, Malaysia, the United States (Texas) and Argentina. Those events and their dates will be confirmed before 31 July, MotoGP added. Moto2 and Moto3 were able to start their season in Qatar in March because they were already there for testing but MotoGP was unable to race due to quarantine restrictions. The updated schedule: 19 July: Spanish Grand Prix 26 July: Grand Prix of Andalusia 9 August: Czech Grand Prix 16 August: Austrian Grand Prix 23 August: Styria Grand Prix 13 September: San Marino Grand Prix 20 September: Emilia Romagna Grand Prix 27 September: Catalan Grand Prix 11 October: French Grand Prix 18 October: Aragon Grand Prix 25 October: Teruel Grand Prix 8 November: European Grand Prix 15 November: Valencia Grand Prix. Click here to follow LIVE updates on coronavirus outbreak