International Motorsport Roundup: More Postponements, Future Announcements And Revised Calendars

Published April 8, 2020
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As motorsport events continue to be revised, more efforts are being undertaken to tackle the coronavirus situation

Racing action for most motorsport disciplines around the world is currently on a near standstill and the last seven days has seen more events face the same fate. It started off with Formula One and MotoGP having more postponements, however a revised calendar has been decided for the World Endurance Championship. The motorsport community continues to take up initiatives to help the world in containing the virus which includes donations. The week rounded off with a MotoGP rider getting a competition ban and future announcements for the WRC 2022 regulations. Here’s all about it:

Formula One

The 2020 season has yet to start and is set to take even longer to commence with the postponement of the Canadian Grand Prix that was initially scheduled for June 14. As things stand, the French Grand Prix at Paul Ricard is tentatively the season opener on June 28. In addition to this, the mandatory shutdown period for all F1 teams has been extended for another five weeks.

Despite the lockdown, the motorsport community continues to concentrate its efforts to tackle the coronavirus situation. In this case, ex-McLaren Formula One chief, Ron Dennis has donated 1 million pounds to feed NHS workers for the next three months. With no racing events causing a potential financial meltdown, the Formula One organisation has placed around half its staff on furlough, with senior staff taking a 20 per cent pay cut.

MotoGP

The Italian and Catalan Grand Prix have been postponed, with the former originally scheduled for May 31 2020 and the latter for June 7 2020. The Catalan GP postponement is a major hit since retired three-time MotoGP champion Jorge Lorenzo was set to make a wildcard entry for Yamaha. Germany looks likely to stage the season opener on June 21 as things stand.

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In other news, the anti-doping saga of Aprilia’s Andrea Iannone comes to an end, with the rider being handed an 18-month competition ban from 17 December 2019 to 16 June 2021. Andrea Iannone had tested positive for an anabolic steroid during a WADA drug test at the 2019 Malaysian Grand Prix, with a follow-up test also testing positive. Aprilia test rider Bradley Smith is likely to take over the race seat from Andra Iannone for the time being.

WRC

The FIA provided some clarity on the World Rally Championship’s 2022 technical regulations. The first decision is the retention of existing specification of base engine, albeit with restrictions in development for cost savings reasons. The other decision is that the FIA has announced Compact Dynamics to be the exclusive supplier of hybrid kits for the new 2022 cars, that will form the Rally1 category, for three seasons from 2022 to 2024.

WEC

This week saw the calendar for the FIA 2019-2020 World Endurance Championship receive a revision. With four races already done, the season is set to resume at the 6hrs of Spa-Francorchamps on August 15 2020, with the 24hrs of LeMans taking place on 19-20 September. The season will then come to a close at the 8hrs of Bahrain on November 21, 2020. However, all this can change depending on the coronavirus situation.

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