Finland was delighted to return to the motorcycle Grand Prix calendar after 40 years of absence through an emerging track called KymiRing. A site promised a great destiny since it was located within reach of Russian fans who were expected at the time with open arms. Along with MotoGP, Formula 1 was also considered. But once the intentions were made official, difficulties followed one another. The route was first a great disappointment because of its development, then the health crisis arrived and, finally, the war in Ukraine froze relations with the big Russian neighbor. Without any organized competition and with work still to be carried out, economic logic ended up imposing itself. It now promises bankruptcy as the epilogue to what looks very much like a fiasco.
Le MotoGP Finnish Grand Prix should have taken place in 2019, but the site was not ready. Then there was the pandemic and now a geopolitical situation with Russia which makes the positioning of the Kymiring circuit a handicap, when it should be its asset. The companies which worked to bring this route out of the ground no longer receive a penny and the political leaders who have granted subsidies for this national cause are beginning to prepare their speeches to make their fellow citizens swallow the pill of millions of euros gone up in smoke .
The first alert was given when, two months ago, Dorna and END regretted having to, once again, postpone an event promised for July 10: “ the approval work on the KymiRing, as well as the risks caused by the current geopolitical situation in the region, have unfortunately forced the cancellation of the 2022 Finnish Grand Prix. Current circumstances have caused delays and put work on the new circuit in danger. Therefore, all parties agreed that the premiere at this track should be postponed until 2023, the year MotoGP hopes to return to Finland for the first time after four decades ».
Finnish Grand Prix deadlocked
But from what is read on Todocircuito which mentions discouraging elements reported by Finnish media, those responsible for the KymiRing can no longer pay for the construction of their track. Three years after its rushed inauguration in the summer of 2019, with many areas of the paddock still to be completed, the Finnish track cannot pay the nearly 600 euros requested by construction companies.
News of the return of the motorcycle world championship to Finland first surfaced in January 2016, when the construction of a 4,6 kilometer running track located 110 kilometers from Helsinki was announced. The Scandinavian country had hoped to host its first Grand Prix in 2019, but construction delays and negative comments made by drivers such as the local Mika Kallio after turning there, regretting that the circuit was too slow for MotoGP, forced the circuit management to remodel the track and postpone its entry on the calendar to 2020. We know the rest and we now imagine the end.
