MotoGP: 3 races cancelled due to pandemic

By Emre Asikci

ANKARA (AA) - This year’s MotoGP races in the Netherlands, Germany, and Finland have been canceled due to the coronavirus pandemic, organizers confirmed Wednesday.

"The HJC Helmets Motorrad Grand Prix Deutschland was set to take place at the Sachsenring from the 19th to the 21st of June, the Motul TT Assen at the TT Circuit Assen from the 26th to the 28th of June, and the Grand Prix of Finland was set to see the new KymiRing make its debut on the MotoGP calendar from the 10th to the 12th of July," read a statement by the MotoGP.

The 2020 season has been completely disrupted by the pandemic, with the season opener in Qatar cancelled a week before schedule.

The Spanish, French, Italian, Thai, US, and Argentine races were postponed and no new dates have been announced.

"It is with great sadness that we announce the cancellation of these three important Grands Prix on the MotoGP calendar," Carmelo Ezpeleta, head of Dorna Sports, the sports management company that holds commercial rights for MotoGP, said in a statement.

More than 3.2 million people in 185 countries and regions have been infected by the coronavirus since it emerged in China last December, with the US and Europe being the world’s hardest-hit areas.

A significant proportion of patients – almost 983,000 – have recovered from COVID-19, but the disease has claimed close to 228,000 lives so far, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University in the US.