As the 2020 MotoGP season prepares to restart, there’s bad news for the lone American stop on the tour: Texas’ Circuit of the Americas has announced this year’s MotoGP race in Austin has been cancelled. The FIM, MotoGP and series promoter Dorna have not released any official statements yet, but the track has confirmed the news on its official social media channels. (UPDATE: COTA has taken down its social media posts referencing the event’s cancellation. Given the lack of formal word from Dorna or MotoGP, it’s likely the track jumped the gun on announcement.)
The Grand Prix of the Americas was originally supposed to be held in April but was postponed due to the novel coronavirus pandemic. COTA was tentatively penciled in for Nov. 13-15, but it appears a recent surge in COVID-19 cases in Texas has forced the round to be cancelled.
The news follows the cancellation of the 2020 State Fair of Texas on Tuesday.
A post on Reddit suggests that COTA has sent out email notifications to those who had purchased tickets. According to the emails, tickets for this year’s race will be rolled over to 2021, with MotoGP expected to return to COTA on April 16-18.
This is a developing story and we will update this post as official announcements come in.
UPDATE: The MotoAmerica round scheduled to run the same weekend at COTA has also been cancelled. As of yet, we still haven’t heard official word from MotoGP, the FIM or Dorna, but MotoAmerica’s official statement below claims that Dorna has cancelled the Grand Prix of the Americas.
COTA Round Of MotoAmerica Series Cancelled
With the announcement coming today from Dorna and the Circuit of The Americas that the Red Bull Grand Prix of the Americas, scheduled for November 13-15, has been cancelled, MotoAmerica is also announcing that it will not be racing at the Austin, Texas, facility in 2020.
MotoAmerica, however, is working diligently on options to keep its 20-race HONOS Superbike Series intact for 2020.
“It’s a shame that we have to cancel the MotoAmerica round at COTA,” said MotoAmerica President Wayne Rainey. “The race is a highlight of our schedule and it’s always good to combine our efforts with Dorna to put on a great show in Austin. COVID-19 has made it virtually impossible for the MotoGP series to travel to the U.S. so we fully understand the issues they are facing in 2020. We look forward to returning to COTA with MotoGP in 2021. In the meantime, we are working on a solution to find a replacement round as we continue to strive towards having a 20-race Superbike Series.”
The COTA round was scheduled to be the MotoAmerica HONOS Superbike Series finale.
The 2020 MotoAmerica Series continues with round three of the championship at Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta, July 31-August 2.
For the complete 2020 MotoAmerica Series schedule, click HERE
To purchase tickets for any of the 2020 series round, click HERE
For information on how to watch the 2020 MotoAmerica Series, click HERE
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