Moto3 riders posing for a photograph ahead of the season opener which kicks off today.
DOHA: Dorna chief Carmelo Ezpeleta (pictured) yesterday said every attempt would be made to stage the remaining MotoGP races despite a couple of Grands Prix getting cancelled due to the outbreak of the coronavirus around the world.
“There have been many questions from many journalists, so we decided to have a press conference to make a statement about where we are and what’s happened up to now, and what we plan to do from now until the end of the season,” Carmelo said yesterday at Losail International Circuit (LIC).
“The collaboration with the Qatar authorities has really been very good. When this all started, the situation was changing day by day, we tried to accommodate ourselves with the agreement with everyone in the paddock to do all we can.
“We are lucky that Moto2 and Moto3 test was the week before, so everyone was here. This made it easy to have the two races we will have here.
"This is something that we decided from the beginning with the Losail International Circuit, the Qatari Federation and the government of Qatar to do the Moto2 and Moto3 races, with Asia Talent Cup, also.
“What will happen in the future? This is something we can’t prevent. The situation keeps changing around the world, every day,” Ezpeleta said in a statement posted on www.motogp.com.
“The only thing I can say is that we will try to do everything possible; postpone or whatever. Our aim today is to work together, as we’ve been doing all this time, to try to make the Championship. In the best possible conditions, but to try to maintain the championship with the maximum number of races we can. We are prepared to do that.
“This is the position. The next race? the United States. We don’t know anything. We are waiting to send all the material until the last moment. If the situation changes between now and that moment, we will make that decision.
“It’s true that we tried to move United States to the end of the year, changing for some of the Spanish races. It’s easy to say but to make those changes in the short time we have, to do these races at the end of March, it’s impossible for a circuit to organise a MotoGP race between now and the end of March. We announced today the change of the date of Thailand, thanks to the Aragon government to make the race a week early, and a week later we’ll have Thailand.
“Our aim; FIM, IRTA and Dorna, is to maintain the Championship with the maximum number of races. The rest, we will take measures,” Ezpeleta said.
