Provisional 2019 MotoGP calendar announced

MotoGP has released its provisional 2019 calendar, which confirms that - with both Finland and now Mexico pushed back until at least 2020 - there will be no new events next season.

The 19-round championship is due to begin in Qatar one week earlier than this year, on March 10, followed by a two-weekend break before Argentina. There will then be another two-weekend gap between COTA and the first European round, at Jerez. In 2020, one of those free weekends is set to be taken by Mexico, which is due to be paired with Austin.

The July summer break, cut to a meagre two weekends this year, will be extended to three weekends with Assen-Sachsenring (present despite some earlier doubts) and Misano-Aragon becoming back-to-back events.

The Misano-Aragon pairing, which produces a two-weekend break after Silverstone, seems to be aimed at avoiding a direct clash with the Italian F1 Grand Prix on September 8.

As this season, Brno and Austria will remain back-to-back, plus the usual Japan-Australia-Malaysia tripleheader.

The season is due to finish in Valencia on November 17.

Despite the same events, next year's pre-season test schedule will be reduced from three to two outings, at Sepang and then Qatar.

Should both Mexico and Finland be ready for 2020, it is thought that one of the current European rounds will be dropped, meaning a 20-race schedule.

Provisional 2019 MotoGP calendar:
Round 1: 10 March Qatar* Doha/Losail
Round 2: 31 March Argentina Termas de Rio Hondo
Round 3: 14 April Americas COTA
Round 4: 5 May Spain Jerez de la Frontera
Round 5: 19 May France Le Mans
Round 6: 2 June Italy Mugello
Round 7: 16 June Catalunya Catalunya
Round 8: 30 June Netherlands TT Assen
Round 9: 7 July Germany Sachsenring
Round 10: 4 August Czech Republic Brno
Round 11: 11 August Austria Red Bull Ring
Round 12: 25 August Great Britain Silverstone
Round 13: 15 September San Marino & Riviera di Rimini Misano
Round 14: 22 September Aragon MotorLand Aragon
Round 15: 6 October Thailand Buriram
Round 16: 20 October Japan Motegi
Round 17: 27 October Australia Phillip Island
Round 18: 3 November Malaysia Sepang
Round 19: 17 November Valencia Ricardo Tormo-Valencia
* Evening Race