The 2023 Kazakhstan MotoGP has been cancelled and will not be replaced, it has been announced.
Kazakhstan was set to host its first MotoGP race this year on 7-9 June at the Sokol International Racetrack.
The race was set to be one of two new Grands Prix on the 2023 MotoGP calendar this year, along with the Indian Grand Prix at the New Delhi circuit that used to host Formula One between 2011 and 2013.
However, a brief announcement of the cancellation of the Kazakh race from MotoGP reads that “Ongoing homologation works at the circuit, paired with current global operational challenges, have obliged the cancellation of the 2023 event.”
The announcement also confirms that the race will not be replaced on the 2023 calendar, meaning MotoGP will now not race in July at all this year, and that the calendar is reduced to 20 races. The ‘summer break’ for MotoGP will now take place between the Dutch TT on 23-25 June and the British Grand Prix on 4-6 August, meaning the Grand Prix paddock gets five weekends ‘off’ before the second half of the season kicks off in Silverstone.
Kazakhstan is not yet ruled out of hosting a MotoGP race entirely. The aforementioned announcement from MotoGP reads: “MotoGP looks forward to visiting Sokol International Racetrack in 2024 to welcome a new region to the calendar.”
The 2023 MotoGP season continues this weekend with the fourth round, the Spanish Grand Prix, set to take place at the Circuito de Jerez-Angel Nieto.
