Tonight at 8:00 p.m. we will talk about it in detail with Carlo Pernat in our usual ‘bar sport’, but the pandemic situation, which is still far from under control, gives us the impression that the current MotoGP tentative calendar is just that: preliminary.
Originally scheduled for 20 races, it lost the historical Brno event on the way, as the track without spectators is unable to bear the cost of renewing the asphalt, which is now in a pretty ruinous state.
The lack of the Czech Republic Grand Prix has resulted in a big gap between the Finnish GP on the KymiRing, which is still awaiting homologation, on July 11th and the Austrian GP on the Red Bull Ring on August 15th.
A month of vacation that will certainly be filled by one or even two races, as there are other tracks that are threatened with failure and Dorna has to organize a calendar with as many races as possible.
That’s because the championship lives economically from the income from TV rights, and every race that is canceled in monetary terms leaves a hole that we absolutely want to avoid after the world championship with only 14 grands prix in 2020.
Because of this, these days will be there is already the possibility of another double victory at the Styrian GP,like last year.
“There is still a lot of uncertainty and we will probably have to change our plans. The advantage over 2020 is that we can start the season in Qatar in March and last until November – said Carmelo Ezpeleta – While last year we were only able to contest the first MotoGP race in Jerez in mid-July.
The Dorna boss is aiming for at least 18 grands prix. Perhaps more could be done, but only thanks to “double headers”. It will depend on how the pandemic situation develops by October. Or maybe by the end of summer, many people around the world will be vaccinated against the coronavirus. However, given the difficulties in obtaining vaccines, this seems unlikely.
All in all, however, the start of the championship will be quite smooth: Losail even thinks about an opening … but since there have never been more than 1,500 / 2,000 viewers in the past, it goes without saying that this is not really progress.
And in the year before the soccer World Cup, Qatar wants to do everything possible to contain the epidemic as best as possible.
We can say the same about Portugal: Portimao is unlikely to open to the public on the 18th. In addition, several top events are planned on the Algarve route, with F1 on May 2nd and Superbike the following week.
The problem for everyone is time: decrees follow the speed with which the epidemic is spreading or shrinking and collide with the organizers’ need for information within 90 or 60 days, depending on whether the family doctor is overseas or in Europe, whether he is it is possible to organize the race or not to give the Dorna time to take countermeasures.
With that in mind, at the merged Grands Prix of Motegi and Buriram on October 3rd and 10th and those of Phillip Island and Sepang on the 24th and 31st of the same month, we won’t know until the end of June or July if it will be possible to organize them.
For this reason Dorna is already thinking about possible further European double victories, in addition to the Austrian: Misano and Aragon have already been forewarned, and Valencia is also a possible venue.
What we have just said leads us to conclude that there will be no hospitality in the paddock this year, even if Dorna opened it to a limited number of VIPs. Maybe 5 for the MotoGP teams and 4 for the other teams.
With these figures, however, no team will build up its usual expensive structures, so it is very likely that all guests (for a fee, of course) will be paid by Dorna in the even more exclusive VIP Village at this point.
However, the position of the scriptures is still in the air, which last year, based on the Misano GP, was even relegated to a separate room from the press room, where the photographers were housed.
Although the media were subject to the same rules as the ‘bubble’, i.e. mandatory compromises, Dorna wanted to avoid any risk of infection, so there was no access to the paddock.
For the first Grand Prix, the situation could stay the same or improve. There is talk of a possible access to the pit lane, with entering the pit lane, always with the necessary precautions, masks and social distancing of course, but we should know a little more in the coming days as the start of the championship approaches and the tests begin on March 5th.
Exam dates:
3rd-4th March: construction
March 5th: Shakedown test – rookies and test drivers only
6-7 March: Official test (all drivers)
10-12 March: Official test (all drivers)
