Italy, Catalonia MotoGPs postponed over coronavirus

Paris, Apr 7 (AFP) The start of the MotoGP season has been pushed back to June 21 at the earliest after organisers on Tuesday postponed the Italian and Catalonian Grands Prix due to the coronavirus.

The Italian MotoGP was scheduled for May 31 with Catalonia fixed for June 7, but both have been pushed back with no new date. Last week organisers postponed the May 17 French MotoGP after previously calling off the Spanish event set for May 3.

"As the situation remains in a state of constant evolution, new dates for these Grands Prix, as well as the recently-postponed French and Spanish GPs, cannot be confirmed until it becomes clearer when exactly it will be possible to hold the events," MotoGP's governing body said in a statement.

"A revised calendar will be published as soon as available."

The Italian and Catalonia events are the latest MotoGP casualties of the coronavirus pandemic and follow the cancellation of the elite category season-opening MotoGP in Qatar on March 8.

The next three legs of the 2020 calendar in Thailand, Texas and Argentina have all been put on ice, with Dorna, the series promoter, hoping to run them in the second half of a season which has been extended for two weeks to November 29.

The first race of the season is now scheduled for Germany on June 21. (AFP) ATKATK