Jakarta –
MotoGP 2021 may start earlier than the original schedule. This issue was raised following the condition of COVID-19 which has not improved until now.
Previously, the 2021 MotoGP pre-season test which was supposed to be held in Sepang, Malaysia, on February 19-21 had to be canceled after the neighboring government declared a state of emergency due to COVID-19, last Tuesday (12/1).
The emergency status is valid until next August. As a result, now the riders only have one pre-season test session, namely in Losail, Qatar, on March 10-12.
Seeing the current situation, Autosport reported that the MotoGP teams will hold a meeting with Dorna Sports and FIM on Thursday (14/1). They want to discuss the opening series of MotoGP 2021, which will be held in Qatar on March 28.
There are options to change the schedule, namely by postponing the pre-season test session from the original schedule or advancing the Qatar MotoGP schedule. In essence, cut the gap of two weeks between pre-season tests and races.
This consideration is based on last season’s experience. At that time, the Qatar 2020 MotoGP which had to be held on March 8 had to be canceled when the spread of COVID-19 began to spread.
Qatari authorities close the door of arrival to foreigners, and only allow entry if they have been quarantined for the first two weeks.
As a result, Marc Marquez et al, who are mostly still outside Qatar, could not enter, so that only Moto2 and Moto3 events could be held, considering that the riders in these two classes had arrived in Qatar first because they had run pre-season tests a few days earlier.
Reflecting on that, the participating teams did not want them to stay in Qatar for a two-week gap between tests and races, because accommodation costs would be so high. Not to mention that the logistics that have been sent to Sepang must be sent back to Qatar, of course it will cost money.
Therefore, a compact schedule is now an option to be considered.
(adp/raw)
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