After the Recent Japanese Grand Prix cancellations, the United Kingdom and Australia, the 2020 calendar is increasingly focused primarily on Europe. The first block of races would take place on the old continent from July 19 in Jerez to November 1 in Valencia, before then heading overseas. What will happen to the French GP?
Few classic races have visited as many circuits as our national Grand Prix. Between 1920 and 1939, excluding the World Championship (which did not yet exist), the French GP took place first at Le Mans (on the Mulsanne-Arnage triangle of 17,262 km), then in Strasbourg, Tours, Lyon, Montlhéry, Saint-Gaudens, Bordeaux, Pau, Reims and Dieppe. Since the creation of the World Championship in 1949, the French Grand Prix has taken place in Albi, Rouen, Reims, Pau, Clermont-Ferrand (Charade), Le Mans, Paul Ricard, Nogaro and Magny-Cours, and finally establishing itself firmly in Le Mans from 2000 under the leadership of Claude Michy and his company PHA.
As for the current situation, in 2020 the calendar that Dorna manages currently consists of twelve meetings, seven in Spain and five others in three other countries. The season will begin with two races in Jerez (Spanish GP on July 19 and Andalusian GP on July 26).
From there we will travel to Central Europe where Brno will be held on its original date (August 9) and another double – after that of Jerez – will be contested without interruption in Austria (August 16 and 23).
The next stop on the MotoGP caravan will be Misano, which will host the Italian and San Marino GPs on September 6 and 13.
From there, the championship will return to Spain to stay there, with two races in Aragón (September 27 and October 4), one in Catalonia (October 11) and a double in Valencia (October 25 and November 1) with which it will end the game European and perhaps also the World Championship.
In France, an atypical and unique GP
“The only question that needs to be answered today is whether the race will take place at Le Mans this year or whether the French round will be permanently canceled ”, according to Chechu Lazaro of Motocyclismo.es. “The case of the French GP is special, because it is the only one in the championship to have a private promoter, Claude Michy. The French businessman invests in every MotoGP race that takes place at Le Mans and he must be certain of the viability of the event. »
“From the start of the pandemic, he refused to organize the French GP behind closed doors, because without ticket sales he could not do it. Now that the light at the end of the tunnel is starting to appear, he is negotiating with the French authorities to allow with a limited number of spectators, which according to La Gazzetta dello Sport could be around 30 (in 000, 2019 spectators attended during the whole weekend).
If the French government gives the green light, the French Grand Prix will take place in the first half of October, so either one of the races in Aragón will fall, or it will be interspersed between these and the one in Catalonia. »
This would agree quite well with what Claude Michy and his team declared recently: “We continue to work to be able to organize the Shark Helmets Grand Prix de France 2020 at Le Mans in the first half of October. This option remains to be confirmed and we hope for a positive evolution of the health situation despite the uncertainty which currently looms for high-volume events, having regard to compliance with the rules imposed by the government. »
“We are fully aware of the unpredictability of the future but we remain realistic and positive. It is reasonable to have hope but also not to have certainty. »
Provisional calendar for the 2020 Grands Prix:
July 19 – Jerez
July 26 – Jerez
August 9 – Brno
August 16 – Austria
August 23 – Austria
September 6 – Misano
September 13 – Misano
September 27 – Aragon
October 4 – Aragon or Le Mans
October 11 – Catalonia
October 25 – Valencia
November 1 – Valencia
From November 15 to December 13 – Extra-European races
