P106
CN
III IN THE PADDOCK
BY MICHAEL SCOTT
T
he troubles of 2020 have
been kicked out of the
back door; the troubles of
2021 welcomed in the front. Will
the coming year be payback for
the privations of the last?
So everyone hopes, in a cli-
mate of uncertainty and discord.
Meanwhile, MotoGP is preparing
for, at the very least, a difficult
start to the new season.
Already, the first round of
scheduled testing at Sepang in
late February has been canceled
after a state of emergency was
declared in Malaysia in response
to a Covid surge. Two extra days
and another for "shake-down"
have been added to the March
Qatar tests. Dare one say this is
more in hope than experience.
Last November's very pro-
visional calendar repeated the
record 20 races proposed
last year. But at this stage the
proposed kickoff at the end of
March is looking shaky, while
one would be wise to hold off
booking flights for the early
April long-hauls to the USA and
Argentina.
The "to be decided" mid-sum-
mer round 11 meant for Brno has
since fallen through—promoters
unable to finance the complete
resurfacing required. Goodbye
Czech Republic GP.
July's new Finnish round is
subject to homologation of the
Kymiring; likewise, one of the
three reserve circuits—Indone-
sia's Mandalika street circuit
(something of a misnomer),
still under construction. An-
other, Russia's Igora Drive is an
unknown quantity, but the third—
Portugal's Algarve International
Circuit—would be warmly wel-
comed after a brilliant first GP
there closed 2020.
Well, to be fair, series rights-
holders Dorna did emphasize at
the time that the calendar was
most definitely provisional.
The 2020 privations were
not as bad as they might have
been, thanks to some fancy
footwork, several repeated races
on consecutive weekends, and
the capacity and willingness of
High Hopes,
Guarded
Expectations
