Assen doesn't expect June MotoGP race

The Dutch MotoGP at Assen doesn't expect to keep its traditional last-weekend-in-June date this year, due to the coronavirus.

Instead, as with the German round one weekend earlier, ongoing government restrictions mean the TT circuit is set to request a new date in August or September.

“We don't believe we can have a meeting with 100,000 people [in June]," former circuit chairman Jos Vaessen told AD.nl.

"That is why Dorna is working on an alternative race calendar, starting in August. The season would still be successful with ten races. Assen will also have a place somewhere between mid-August and the end of September.”

Should Sachsenring and Assen be officially confirmed as postponed, the new KymiRing circuit in Finland would take over on paper as the provisional starting point for the belated 2020 premier-class season.

But that event is also seen as unlikely to take place, since the track is yet to be homologated and a tyre test is needed before the July 10-12 race weekend.

Hence the picture that is emerging is of plans for an August start, behind closed doors, with around ten races (most in Europe, possibly visiting the same circuit more than once) before a mid-December deadline by which to conclude the 2020 season.