MotoGP 2020: Racing may start from July in Europe-based championship

Dorna CEO, Carmelo Ezpeleta, has hinted that MotoGP 2020 may resume in a Europe-only championship between July and November. The series will be run privately without any spectators and could see a total of 10 rounds. 

After multiple delays and cancellations due to the COVID-19 outbreak, the 2020 season of MotoGP may kick off in action from July. In an interview with BT Sport, the CEO of Dorna (the commercial rights holder of MotoGP), Carmelo Ezpeleta, hinted that the organisers are working to get MotoGP races back in action with a plan to run the series in just European countries between July and November.

According to Ezpeleta, the organisers have been regularly assessing the situation and are planning to restart the MotoGP season once the lockdown restrictions are lifted or are eased across the globe later in the coming months. Since Europe organises a majority of the races, Dorna will be looking forward to organise races where riders and teams can travel by road.  However, running the championship in countries outside of Europe will depend on travel restrictions.

If the aforementioned plan works out, the races will be held ‘privately’ or without spectators, suggests Ezepeleta. Multiple races at the same circuit is a likely possibility too. Not to mention, the season will be shortened to around 10 races or so. That being said, Dorna is hopeful of running all three categories – Moto3, Moto2 and MotoGP – as and when the action returns.

In addition to this, Dorna will be minimising the number of officials at the track. At the moment, it’s been worked out with teams and other officials to have minimum number of people in the paddock during a race weekend. However, Ezpeleta believes that the number will still hover around 1,300 people, which will include riders, teams, officials, broadcasters and the production crew. All of the people travelling to race weekends will be tested for Coronavirus though

The main motive will be to organise races so that they can at least be shown on television for fans across the globe. Thus far, 11 of the 20 races of this year's championship have either been cancelled or postponed due to the Coronavirus pandemic. The only 'real' racing this season happened during the inaugural round at Qatar in Moto3 and Moto2 categories. As for MotoGP class, the only bit of racing that has happened so far, it took place online in two virtual races. 

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