OFFICIAL: Wait for Round 1 continues as Austin MotoGP now pushed back

The opening round of the 2020 MotoGP World Championship will not happen before April 17-19 at the earliest now after Grand Prix of The Americas in Austin was officially postponed to November due to the coronavirus.

Anticipated in recent days after the city of Austin declared a ‘state of disaster’ over the spread of COVID-19, the ruling gave authorities the right to ban any gatherings of more than 2,500 people.

As such, Dorna, the FIM and IRTA say the event – scheduled for 3-5 April 2020 – will now move to 13-15 November 2020 in place of the Valencia MotoGP race, which in turn gets pushed back a week to 20-22 November.

“The FIM, IRTA and Dorna Sports regret to announce the postponement of the Red Bull Grand Prix of the Americas, which was set to take place from the 3rd to the 5th of April 2020.

“Due to the ongoing coronavirus outbreak, the event has been rescheduled for later in the season and will now take place from the 13th to the 15th of November.”

The latest announcement is just the latest blow to Dorna Sports following the cancellation of the Qatar MotoGP race and the postponement of the second round in Thailand to October.

It means Round 4 in Argentina will act as the new season opener on April 17-19, though the nation has just recorded its first case of coronavirus too.

Round 5 in Jerez remains on schedule for now, but Round 6 in Le Mans cannot go ahead currently due to the French ban on gatherings of more than 1,000 people, while Italy – the centre of Europe’s growing outbreak – would not be able to host Round 7 as it stands.

2020 MotoGP Calendar - UPDATED