Calendar update: Argentina postponed, Valencia moved...

Another day, another 2020 MotoGP calendar update.

As feared, government efforts to contain the spread of coronavirus mean Argentina has now gone the way of Qatar, Thailand and the USA in abandoning its planned date on the premier-class calendar.

Earlier this month, Termas de Rio Hondo organisers had insisted there was no danger to its April 19 MotoGP event, which was still listed in place on yesterday's calendar amendment.

But the writing was on the wall when the upcoming Motocross Grand Prix was halted by 'a decision of the Argentinian Minister of Health to postpone any international events during this particular moment'.

And so, as with Buriram and COTA, Argentina has now been shifted to an increasingly crowded end-of-year MotoGP schedule, with a new date of November 22.

That in-turn means the Valencia finale has been bumped back by a further week to November 29, creating a USA-Argentina-Spain tripleheader that starts just one weekend after the usual Japan-Australia-Malaysia flyaways.

Meanwhile, the opening MotoGP race has now been passed to Jerez in Spain on May 1-3, originally scheduled as round five.

But given this month's Jerez WorldSBK round has just been postponed, if the coronavirus outlook hasn't improved by late April then it is hard to see how the Spanish Grand Prix could go ahead, unless it becomes the first MotoGP event held without spectators?

The following French and Italian rounds also look shaky, after Le Mans postponed next month's 24-hour motorcycle race due to 'the French health minister’s ban on gatherings of more than 1,000 people' while Italy is in lockdown, having halted all non-essential travel.

Dorna CEO Carmelo Ezpeleta said they are determined to hold as many of the planned MotoGP events as possible, even if it means 'racing in a hot country at Christmas'.

A minimum of 13 races is required by the FIM for a world championship.

The possibility of a second race at Sepang has receded after Malaysia announced a ban on Italian visitors.

'Dates for the Moto2 and Moto3 test in Valencia and the MotoGP test in Jerez at the end of the year will be decided once the season is underway,' added the Dorna statement.

*Subject to circuit homologation.