Sachsenring, Assen and KymiRing 2020 MotoGP rounds cancelled

Dorna has officially confirmed the German, Dutch and Finnish MotoGP rounds will not go ahead this season, shifting the provisional start date for the 2020 campaign to Brno in August.

After a series of postponements up to the start of summer as a consequence of the coronavirus, the German MotoGP round at the Sachsenring was installed as the de facto season opener on June 21, followed by Assen a week later and the inaugural round at the KymiRing two weeks after that.

However, after Germany, the Netherlands and Finland governments all extended restrictions on mass gatherings until the later in the summer, an announcement confirming their postponement or cancellation had been anticipated.

Organisers of the German MotoGP had requested a new date later in the year when it became clear it wouldn’t be able to host a round in June, but no solution was found.

Meanwhile, the Assen round had already been pushed back from its original calendar slot when it was first postponed in March. Its cancellation marks the first time a Dutch TT event won’t be held in its 75-year history.

Finally, the all-new KymiRing – which would mark Finland’s return to the schedule after a 38-year absence – always looked unlikely as the coronavirus meant final construction hasn’t been completed and the FIM has been unable to travel to complete its inspections.

Despite the latest calendar shake-up though, things are reportedly looking brighter for the prospect of the season getting underway in August. Dorna is devising a plant to run events behind closed doors and with strict paddock measures – using extensive testing and health certificates – to get some events underway.

It is hoped by the Czech Republic MotoGP event on August 9, restriction of movement between countries will have sufficiently eased enough. The following event at the Red Bull Ring, meanwhile, is pushing on with plans to run the F1 Austrian Grand Prix in July, which would effectively pave the way to run the MotoGP event a month later.

2020 MotoGP World Championship Calendar