Large-scale sporting events in the Netherlands will not take place until at least September, further delaying the start of the MotoGP season, and raising fresh doubts over its Formula 1 event.
Formula 1 was due to return to the Netherlands in 2020 after a 35-year absence, with the Dutch Grand Prix at Zandvoort scheduled for May 3.
But this was postponed earlier in 2020 as it became clear that the worsening coronavirus situation meant the May 3 date was untenable.
It had been mooted that the race could be rescheduled for August but those hopes have now receded after Prime Minister Mark Rutte provided an update on the situation on Tuesday.
Lockdown restrictions in the Netherlands are due to ease in the coming weeks, with primary schools poised to re-open in May, but Rutte ruled out mass gatherings until after the summer months.
MotoGP’s updated roster had listed its first round as the Dutch Grand Prix, held at Assen, for June 28, but Tuesday’s announcement now renders this implausible.
Dorna Sports had already postponed seven events, with two of them – Austin and Argentina – provisionally rescheduled for November, while Qatar’s premier class round was cancelled.
In the likely event of the Assen round now being postponed it leaves Finland, on July 12, as the revised MotoGP season-opener.
Formula 1, meanwhile, is understood to be targeting starting its 2020 season in Austria in July, with a behind-closed-doors event at the Red Bull Ring.
