Argentina GP rescheduled; MotoGP season to start in Jerez in May

Bengaluru, March 12: Due to the coronavirus outbreak, the FIM MotoGP World Championship 2020 calendar has been tweaked again with the Argentina Grand Prix also rescheduled following the likes of Qatar, Thailand and America.

Following the reschedule, the opening round of FIM MotoGP World Championship 2020 will be the Spanish Grand Prix to be held at the famed Jerez circuit on May 3, which was originally listed as round five of the calendar.

It may be recalled that the season-opening Grand Prix scheduled to be held under lights at the Losail International Circuit in Qatar on March 8 was cancelled.

Qatar MotoGP cancelled due to coronavirus

That was followed by the FIM decision to reschedule the Grands Prix of Thailand (Buriram) and America (Austin) which meant Argentina would have been the season opener.

Thailand date confirmed for October

Coronavirus: MotoGP Grand Prix of the Americas rescheduled for November

"The FIM (International Motorcycling Federation), IRTA (International Road-Racing Teams Association) and Dorna Sports regret to announce the postponement of the Gran Premio Motul de la Republica Argentina, which was set to take place from the 17th to the 19th of April. Due to the ongoing coronavirus outbreak, the event has been rescheduled for later in the season and will now take place from the 20th to the 22nd of November," read an FIM statement.

Check out the UPDATED 2020 #MotoGP calendar! 🗓

— MotoGP™ (@MotoGP) March 11, 2020

"The Red Bull Grand Prix of the Americas retains its new date from the 13th to the 15th of November, a week before the rescheduled Gran Premio Motul de la Republica Argentina," the FIM statement added.

With Argentina also now been shifted to an increasingly crowded end-of-year MotoGP schedule, with a new date of November 22, the traditional season-ending race in Valencia, Spain, has been pushed back by a further week to November 29.

Dates for the Moto2 and Moto3 test in Valencia and the MotoGP test in Jerez at the end of the year will be decided once the season is underway.

Dorna Sports CEO Carmelo Ezpeleta has reiterated the commercial rights holder's decision to hold as many of the planned MotoGP events as possible, even if that means stopping spectators from attending at some venues.

"Everything is possible," Ezpeleta said when asked about racing going ahead behind closed doors.

"The most important thing for us to have a solution that covers everything. We say always that Dorna, with the agreement with FIM and IRTA is a company who makes races. And this is our obligation despite any other things," the Spaniard added.

(With Dorna Sports inputs)