2021 MXGP has been twice delayed and suffered cancellation of the Swedish and Finnish Grands Prix as well as displacement of the Latvian round. The ravages of the pandemic, in particular with international travel, quarantine policies and the presence of Covid-19 variants, means 2021 has been another difficult, costly and frustratingly inconsistent year for promoter Infront Motor Racing.
Speculation persists over the stability of the Portuguese Grand Prix in late October and the three ‘flyaway’ fixtures in Argentina, Indonesia and Bali to finish the season in November and December. Although those races are still on the horizon, and some governments are ruling on countries’ status for travel almost on a weekly basis, it is highly rumoured that MXGP will start doubling and tripling Grands Prix at certain venues to reach a satisfactory number of races.
The first double-header will see the Grand Prix of Turkey at Afyonkarahisar on September 5th followed by the Grand Prix of ‘Afyon’ at the same venue three days later to hike the trail of events up to nine for the season.
Infront admitted they are still hopeful of staging much of the remaining calendar after Turkey that will involve trips to Sardinia, Germany, France, Spain, Portugal and Italy before departing Europe for the final three. It’s likely that the Grand Prix of Trentino at Pietramurata in northern Italy on September 31st – the last European Grand Prix of the year – will again host more than one round.
“For Trentino we have in mind to increase the amount of races,” said Infront Motor Racing CEO David Luongo exclusively. “For the others we are still on ‘Plan A’ but we have to handle the rules placed by governments and we have to go week by week. As an example, the ruling from Finland came only last week and now they say from the 26th of August it is only possible to have events with 50 people. It was impossible for a Grand Prix.”
“We are dependent on the decisions of government,” Luongo underlined, both for restrictions on public gatherings as much as quarantine red-tape for the MXGP paddock. “It is probable that we will still have some changes for the end of the season but we will do all we can to have 19 events. The most important is to have a decent season with a title that people deserve. We have been on this mission for two years now.”
Words: Adam Wheeler
Pic: MXGP/Infront Moto Racing
