2020 FIM Motocross World Championship | Hopes To Resume In July

2020 MONSTER ENERGY FIM MOTOCROSS WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP | COMPLETE COVERAGE

COVID-19 & MOTOCROSS | COMPLETE COVERAGE

As expected, InFront Moto Racing has released an updated schedule for the 2020 Monster Energy FIM Motocross World Championship. The change comes as a result of developments in the COVID-19 situation in Europe, including a recent spike of cases in Russia, an extended state of emergency in Latvia, and a government decision that bans public gatherings in France, all of which prevent the series from holding any events in the month of June. Instead, the series now aims to resume competition in July, a full month later than their previously updated calendar.

InFront Moto Racing and the promoters of races in Russia and Latvia have agreed to delay their events while still retaining their rank as the next two on the schedule, with the 2020 MXGP of Russia at Orlyonok will now take place on July 4-5 and the 2020 MXGP of Latvia at Kegums to run on July 11-12. The decision to move the Russian race directly impacted two MXGP rounds in Italy at Maggiora and Trentino. The 2020 MXGP of Italy at Maggiora will now run on July 18-19 and the 2020 MXGP of Italy-Trentino will run on October 3-4. 

The MXGP of France was not as fortunate, as a recent order by President Macron that restricts any public gathering will run until at least July. This decree has put the 2020 MXGP of France at St. Jean D’ Angley, originally slated for June 27-28, into a sort of purgatory. The updated calendar now has the event at the bottom of the list, next to a “TBA” for the date. One has to assume that InFront Moto Racing and the FFM are eyeing a slot some time in August or September for a make-up date, especially because the series current plans to have a run of flyaway races in Asia and South America from October to November.

Speaking of France in September, the Motocross of Nations is still on the schedule for its original date of September 26-27, but further word from the French government has put the event in question. Per a Forbes report that discussed a recent meeting among partners in the European Union, Macron expressed an interest in keeping borders closed to countries that are not in the Schengen Area until September, including the United States. We’ll have to keep an eye on this one.

Below is the updated calendar, but keep in mind that more changes are almost certain to occur with any of the dates and venues listed…

UPDATE | Minutes after we posted, this German Chancellor Angela Merkel announced a ban on all large public gatherings, including sporting events and concerts, until August 31, which comes shortly after Belgium enacted a similar measure earlier in the day and have also restricted all mass gatherings until the same date. This means that the MXGP of Belgium and MXGP of Germany (current set for August 1-2 and 8-9, respectively) are now next on the list of events to be altered.