MotoGP is looking to finalise the European portion of its 2020 calendar next week, according to Dorna CEO Carmelo Ezpeleta.
The calendar will feature “12 to 13” rounds in Europe, with up to four ‘flyaway’ events, though these remain under consideration.
Like Formula 1’s revised schedule, the calendar will feature multiple back-to-back races at the same venue.
“The calendar we hope to present next week, if everything goes well, starts on the 19th of July in Jerez,” Ezpeleta said. “And the latest race on that calendar will be at the beginning of November, with 12 or 13 rounds.”
It’s expected alongside Jerez, that Aragon, Barcelona, Brno, Misano the Red Bull Ring and Valencia will feature.
As for races outside of Europe, the Australian round has already been cancelled, leaving the currently postponed Thai, Malaysian, US and Argentinian rounds as possibilities.
“Races outside of Europe is something we need to decide,” added Ezpeleta. “There will be a number of [flyaway] races presented – the four non-European races that have not been cancelled.
“We will search for approval and we have a deadline of the end of July to tell everybody if we continue with them or stop.
“After the first two races [at Jerez], we will see if the calendar will be 12, 14 or a maximum of 16 rounds.”
Like F1, MotoGP is also putting a number of safety measures in place including fan-free races and limiting personnel numbers.
“We’ve made a very defined protocol, working together with the different Ministers of Sport in different countries we will visit.
“In principle, any rider coming to race will have a medical before, and if the doctor decides they need to have a test, they will do it before coming to the first race in Spain.
“Then later, before coming to the paddock, there will be another test, and then a protocol with control every day, plenty of things in the paddock and especially insulation between each team.
“The MotoGP family will be around or less than 1300 people and we have increased by five the number of members of each manufacturer for the MotoGP class.”
