IN
THE
WIND
P52
A Very Merry MotoGP Christmas?
A
t first, Dorna CEO Carmelo
Ezpeleta's comments on
Thursday sounded flippant.
"There are possibilities that even
with more cancellations that we
will have time to run all 20 races.
Maybe we will race in hot coun-
tries at Christmas!"
But this was no joke. The
escalating Coronavirus outbreak
already left round one of 2020
without a MotoGP race. Thailand
has been postponed from March
to October while round three
at Austin is in serious doubt, as
Texas declared a state of emer-
gency on Saturday, March 7. The
Italian government's decision to
place 14 million of its inhabitants
in quarantine until April 3 was
another blow, particularly as it
affects Valentino Rossi for one,
who lives in a province with these
restrictions, as well as many
team personnel.
IRTA president Mike Trimby
confirmed Austin is far from
safe. "We will leave the MotoGP
freight, left in Qatar after the
preseason test, until the last
possible moment before sending
it to Texas, in case there is any
change to government restric-
tions on people entering Texas or
in case it has to be postponed."
But what was clear is Dorna's
desire to do everything within
its means to complete the 19 re-
maining races. Fulfilling a certain
number of races is crucial for it
to meet the requirements in its
contracts with television suppli-
ers.
There was an acknowledge-
ment that it would be happy
for races to take place behind
closed doors. Also, the Spanish
company would be happy to re-
schedule any races that may be
canceled in the future to Decem-
ber if need be. The possibility of
races running up until Christmas
is a real one.
Neil Morrison
Don't be surprised if
MotoGP runs through
Christmas this year.
