MELBOURNE, Australia — The MotoGP races in Britain and Australia are the latest to be canceled on the international motorcycle racing circuit because of the coronavirus pandemic.
Organizers on Friday said the COVID-19 pandemic « and resulting calendar changes have obliged the cancellation of both events. »
The British Grand Prix had been scheduled for Aug. 28-30 at the Silverstone Circuit and the Australian Grand Prix was set to be staged at Phillip Island from Oct. 23-25.
« I want to thank the stoic British fans for their patience and support, » Silverstone managing director Stuart Pringle said in a statement. « We must now look forward to 2021 when Silverstone will once again host the fastest and most historic MotoGP race on the calendar and work hard to make it a truly exceptional event. »
Carmelo Ezpeleta, chief executive of Dorna Sports, which has the commercial and TV rights for MotoGP, said the British and Australian races couldn’t be rescheduled because there was « no way through the logistical and operational issues resulting from the pandemic and rearranged calendar. »
MotoGP is aiming to start the series in Spain in July.
The first two MotoGP events of the year in Qatar and Thailand were canceled on March 2 because of travel restrictions. At the time, there had been 34 deaths from the COVID-19 illness in Italy and more than 1,100 people had tested positive.
The numbers of deaths attributed to COVID-19 in Italy has risen to more than 33,000, which is the third-highest national toll behind the United States and Britain. Globally, there have been more than 360,000 deaths from COVID-19 among more than 5.9 million reported cases.
https://www.espn.com/racing/story/_/id/29239006/british-grand-prix-australian-grand-prix-canceled-amid-pandemic
