MotoGP postpones Texas race, while Daytona races are happening in March

For the second year in a row, MotoGP organizers are “postponing” the Austin, Texas MotoGP race.

Earlier today, MotoGP announced a revised provisional 2021 race schedule, shuffling a few events around. Surprise, surprise, the races at Circuit of the Americas and Argentina’s Termas de Rio Hondo are now listed as postponed, replaced by a second race at Qatar, and a race in Portugal.

The official line from MotoGP is “The ongoing Covid-19 pandemic and resulting lockdowns and complications sadly oblige the postponement of both the Argentina GP and the Americas GP until the last quarter of 2021, with the Mandalika International Street Circuit in Indonesia being placed as a reserve Grand Prix venue, subject to homologation.” Judging by that wording, it doesn’t sound like racing fans in North America or South America should be getting their hopes up about the Texas or Argentinian races. Don’t be shocked to see them off the sked, replaced by a race in Indonesia.

So what about the Daytona 200, and all the other racing at Daytona Bike Week? As of today, Supercross is still selling tickets for a race on March 6, there are two days of flat track racing on March 12 and 13, and the Daytona 200 is scheduled for March 13. Will any of this actually go ahead? Probably, as Florida seems pretty keen to have business as usual, despite COVID-19. But, with a federal regime change and everything else going on in the States, obviously it’s “buyer beware” when it comes to any public event down there.