Motorsport Talk: Trouble Brewing As More Motorsport Is Cancelled

The Coronavirus outbreak of COVID-19 is causing mayhem across the glove. Motorsport, like all Sport, is not a day-to-day priority so we expect more postponements and cancellations with any events that are set to happen in Asia, central Europe, the USA and further.

The 2020 MotoGP season was set to start in Qatar on the 8th March, but instead Bike fans are desperately waiting on which venue will actually be the opening round of the premier class championship this year (the Moto2 and Moto3 classes proceeded, only by luck of them having been testing in the country in the weeks prior).

Round two in Thailand has also been postponed to the 4th October and the following round at the Circuit of the Americas is now under threat since the declaration of a state emergency in Austin. Any event with more than 2,500 people in attendance will not be allowed to go ahead unless organisers are able to prove to the Public Health Department that appropriate measures will be put in place to contain the virus. This rule did not affect the opening GT World Challenge America race meeting held at the circuit from 6th to 8th March, again more by chance than anything else.

Dorna Sports, Commercial Rights Holders of MotoGP, has not ruled out holding races behind closed doors but should this not be viable, it is more than possible that the new MotoGP season will start on April 19th in Argentina.

Indycar are also due to race at COTA two weeks after the MotoGP meeting and if the virus spreads rapidly across the US, Indycar as well as NASCAR and other US motorsport series will inevitably see postponements and cancellations very soon.

ABB FIA Formula E is facing a similar situation to MotoGP, albeit midway through their season. There will be seven weeks from the last round in Marrakesh to the next scheduled ePrix in Paris on April 18, because of the Sanya round being put on hold. With Rome also postponed, yet more cancellations are possible with the championship scheduled to visit France, South Korea and Indonesia over the next three races.

Both series could lose significant amounts of money through contract disputes with circuit organisers, broadcasters and other contracts, as well as compensation for fans, which will be causing plenty of stress for series promoters and bosses who will be doing everything they can to lose as little money as possible from this unfortunate set of circumstances.

After all, the business factor is arguably the biggest factor from the perspective of a CEO, even if they will not say it. There is millions at stake.

In season one of Formula E, the championship was days away from going bust and breaking after the race in Long Beach. This will be the toughest period yet for the championship since then and whilst things may look smooth on camera, getting to that stage and getting races on the calendar when you want is a mammoth of a job and there is a lot of discussion going on behind the scenes right now.

Elsewhere, nearly all motorsport races happening in Asia over the next month have been cancelled or postponed, including the opening round of Super Formula.

Formula One has postponed the Chinese Grand Prix (although it will be hard to find a date to race in Shanghai this year), but whilst the season-opening Australian Grand Prix has got the green light, we can expect attendance to be significantly lower than usual.

The Bahrain GP will be held “behind closed doors” with no spectators but there will still be television coverage. We can expect many F1 broadcasters to limit or not be on site in Bahrain. The British Sky Sports, Channel 4 and BBC teams are yet undeclared on their stances, whilst many such as Germany’s RTL (broadcast channel) has already said they will not send personnel to the first three Grand Prix. Hungary have done the same for the first two races.

In my opinion, F1 has got this all wrong and should be taking no risks. What happens if or when someone in the paddock gets the virus? The risk is too high yet it looks like the first two races are going ahead when other motorsport series and other sports have taken a sensible decision. For example, cycling has postponed all Italian races, DTM have moved their pre-season test from Monza to Hockenheim, and closed that event to the public too.

Vietnam and the return of the Dutch GP’s Zandvoort will be doing everything they can to run their Grand Prix events because they are new to the calendar and will be willing to take risks, again the money factor playing its part here.

Italy has quarantined at least 16 million people and not all of the Ferrari crew have arrived in Australia yet. AlphaTauri landed in Melbourne last week and will fly directly from Australia to Bahrain, not returning home in between.

The Ferrari mechanics left on Sunday whilst Mattia Binotto and the Senior staff leave on Monday.

So many people involved in the sport do not want to travel to Melbourne or Bahrain but because it is their job to be a mechanic, journalist, a chef, or whatever they may be, they feel they must go simply for the money to pay the bills.

It should be the people higher up making bold decisions to get rid of the worry for these people, instead they are taking a big risk and F1 may make itself look very silly if it is helped spread COVID-19.

Personally, I believe all motorsport events should not take place for the sake of safety and minimising risk.