International Motorsport Roundup: COVID-19 Continues To Disrupt Motorsport, Another Ken Block WRC Entry And A Top 5 Finish For TVS Racing

Published March 9, 2020
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The last seven days were a mix between the continued after effects of the coronavirus and a race event.

The spread of COVID-19 led to F1 making Baharain a closed door event, MotoGP revising its 2020 calendar and Formula-E postponing the Rome E-Prix. However, we did get some announcements in the form of Ken Block’s second WRC outing. We also saw TVS Racing grab a top 5 finish at the 2020 ARRC season opener.

Formula One

With the season set to kick off in Melbourne on March 15, the gossip among the paddock continues to be what the potential effects of COVID-19 could be. After having the Chinese Grand Prix postponed, the Bahrain Grand Prix scheduled for March 22 will be held behind closed doors. It means that no spectators will be allowed at the venue during the race weekend. Here’s more about it.

MotoGP

While there is still time until the premier class season starts on April 5, a revised calendar has been revealed for the 2020 season following the postponement of Thailand and the cancellation of the Qatar round. The Thailand GP has been shifted to October 4, whereas the Aragon GP will commence on September 27.

WRC

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While Ken Block is all set to compete in this week’s upcoming Rally Guanajuato Corona Mexico scheduled for March 12-15, the American rally driver has revealed his second WRC outing of 2020. His next rally event will be at the Rally New Zealand scheduled for September 3-6. However, instead of piloting a Ford Escort RS Cosworth, he will run a Ford Fiesta R5 MkII.

Formula-E

The last seven days sees another racing series affected by the coronavirus with the upcoming Rome E-Prix scheduled for April 4, being postponed. This is the second Formula-E event to be postponed after the Sanya E-Prix in China. Other venues in the calendar under threat include Seoul (South Korea, May 3) and Jakarta (Indonesia, 6 June).

Others

In other news, we saw the inaugural race of the 2020 Asia Road Racing Championship take place at the Sepang International Circuit in Malaysia. It wasn’t plain sailing though as many teams including Idemitsu Honda Racing India did not participate due to coronavirus threats. That left TVS Racing flying the sole flag for India in the 250cc class. Despite that, TVS Racing had a consistent showing with a top 5 finish by Vorapong Malahuan, with teammates Jagan Kumar and KY Ahmed finished 11th and 12th respectively. To know more about what went down, head here.

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