A 10-round, European-only MotoGP season?

KTM motorsport director Pit Beirer believes a dose of reality will soon be needed in terms of the disrupted 2020 MotoGP calendar.

While officially the sport still intends to hold all 19 remaining rounds once coronavirus restrictions are eased, Beirer believes that - with the clock ticking - a ten-race season is now a more practical goal.

"If we could have ten world championship races for each class, we would have a working championship for the teams, could do a decent job for our sponsors and fans and decide the world champions," Beirer told Speedweek.com.

"It must still be our goal to hold reasonable championships [this year]. But for that we need a certain amount of freedom of travel."

While events such as Qatar, Thailand and Malaysia could be run at any time of the year weather-wise, those same countries look set to retain their ban on European arrivals for the foreseeable future.

That could mean MotoGP is confined to European venues this year, an acceptable scenario for Beirer, who nonetheless fears it will be several more months before travel and public gatherings are possible on the continent.

"If we can get eight or ten grand prix together in Europe, everything will be fine. That would still be better than not racing at all," he said. "First the travel bans have to be relaxed, then events with spectators have to be allowed again. It will take a little longer.

"Europe has just started to take very tough measures that were important.

"Now you have to wait for the results of these restrictions. At the same time, the incubation period is up to 14 days. So the number of infected people continues to rise before the trend reverses.

"And if the number of sufferers continues to rise, no one dares seriously to talk about the new MotoGP season. But I hope that we can use the figures from China as a guide. Then we have a period of eight, ten or twelve weeks.

"If I now calculate three months from April, i.e. April, May and June, then from July in the second half of the season, a reasonable year is still feasible both in business and in motorsport."

A July start would mean five more MotoGP rounds would need to be postponed or cancelled in addition to the five events (Qatar, Thailand, USA, Argentina, Spain) already revised...