The folks at Sepang International Circuit (SIC) recently held an online interview with the Team Principal of the Petronas Sepang Racing Team (SRT), Dato’ Razlan Razali, regarding the state of MotoGP in 2020. One of the questions that were asked that caught our attention was what will happen if there’s no MotoGP this year?
There have been a lot of discussions between Dorna, IRTA, racing teams, and sponsors regarding the current development of MotoGP (and motorsports in general) revolving around COVID-19. With several races have already been postponed (and more predicted to come), things are not looking good. The next two rounds after France which are Mugello and Catalunya are also at risk of being cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic in both countries.
But what happens if there are no races at all? According to Dato’ Razlan, “We’ve discussed with Dorna on what will happen if there are no races this season. Supposedly, we have a big chance to fight for the championship with Fabio. So, what happens if races don’t take place?”
“Do we want to make it (2020 season, contracts, etc.) null and void this year and then continue 2021 like it’s 2020 with the same arrangement? That is something we will fight for because we look forward to this year with good bikes and riders. So, we want to win with them. At least one of two wins is good enough but in theory, we can fight for the championship.”
“In motor racing is we are basically a form of entertainment. If there are no races, sponsors could evaluate their position, but Alhamdulillah, Petronas is committed to continue with their commitment this year. That is a survival line for us,” added Dato’ Razlan. He also mentioned that Dorna has been supporting all the teams financially to help stay afloat during these hard times.
It was also mentioned that Dorna is looking into restarting the MotoGP races as late as August where they will try to squeeze in between 10-15 rounds before the middle of December. That would be the best-case scenario where teams and riders don’t really mind if the races are back to back every weekend or even two races per round.
