Coronavirus: When will motorsport resume in 2020?

Other series have also paused races in response to the coronavirus outbreak, as large public gatherings will inevitably increase the risk of transmission between hosts.

As series react to the ever-changing effects of the evolving COVID-19 situation, this page will be updated with cancellations and postponements should any more be forthcoming.

When will the 2020 Formula 1 season begin?

As the coronavirus outbreak is widely regarded to have originated in the city of Wuhan, the Chinese Grand Prix was swiftly postponed in the interests of public health.

The Australian Grand Prix was cancelled on the Friday of its race weekend, after a McLaren team member had tested positive for coronavirus. Seven further members of the F1 paddock were also tested, but their results were found to be negative.

Since then, several other races have been postponed, while Monaco and French Grands Prix won't take place at all this year.

The 2020 F1 season is now likely to start in Austria on July 5, possibly with a pair of races at the Red Bull Ring, before further rounds in Europe through till September.

The championship will then visit Asia and Americas, before concluding in the Gulf countries of Bahrain and Abu Dhabi in December. Liberty Media says it is still confident of hosting 15-18 races this season.

Confirmed postponements/cancellations:

Australian Grand Prix - Albert Park - 15 March (cancelled)

Bahrain Grand Prix - Sakhir - 22 March

Vietnam Grand Prix - Hanoi - 5 April

Chinese Grand Prix - Shanghai - 19 April

Dutch Grand Prix - Zandvoort - 3 May 

Spanish Grand Prix - Barcelona - 10 May

Monaco Grand Prix - Monte Carlo - 24 May (cancelled)

Azerbaijan Grand Prix - Baku - 7 June

Canadian Grand Prix - Montreal - 14 June

French Grand Prix - 28 June (cancelled)

These postponements also affect the Formula 2 and Formula 3 championships, which are on F1's support bill. A start date for either series is yet to be determined.

Read Also:

• The phone call that sealed Australian GP's fate
• F1 can "preserve" calendar by scrapping summer break - Brawn
• The big questions F1 faces after the cancellation chaos

When will the 2020 MotoGP season begin?

Marc Marquez, Repsol Honda Team

Photo by: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images

MotoGP promoter Dorna Sports and the FIM have arguably been the most proactive motorsport bodies during this difficult period, with constant communication flowing out of both camps as to the championship's current situation.

A week before the Qatar season opener, tightened quarantine restrictions on Italian travellers - making up a sizeable portion of the paddock - gave Dorna no choice but to scrap the Qatar race, despite its hopes to get all the personnel needed to start the race into the country on a charter flight from Nice.

As more countries reacted to the COVID-19 situation, MotoGP's second, third and fourth rounds in Thailand, America and Argentina were all postponed.

MotoGP has already found slots for these races, except Qatar, which won't appear this year owing to the Losail circuit undergoing essential track works in the coming months.

The opening four European MotoGP races at Jerez, Le Mans, Mugello and Barcelona have been postponed, while the next three events at Sachsenring, Assen and KymiRing have been cancelled altogether, leaving the Czech GP at Brno on August 9 as the earliest the season could start.

A revised calendar featuring new dates for these races has not yet been issued, though.

Dorna boss Carmelo Ezpeleta recently said that he'd be "delighted" if MotoGP is pull off a 10-race calendar, given how the coronavirus situation has worsened in recent months. 

Latest 2020 MotoGP calendar:

What is happening in NASCAR?

Alex Bowman, Hendrick Motorsports, Chevrolet Camaro Valvoline Jimmie Johnson, Hendrick Motorsports, Chevrolet Camaro Ally Aric Almirola, Stewart-Haas Racing, Ford Mustang Smithfield Ricky Stenhouse Jr., JTG Daugherty Racing, Chevrolet Camaro Kroger

Photo by: Matthew T. Thacker / NKP / Motorsport Images

NASCAR tried desperately to continue its current season as planned by staging its Atlanta race and Homestead-Miami event behind closed doors.

But, as the United States government finally declared COVID-19 a national emergency, these plans have been scuppered. On March 16, NASCAR announced a suspension of its season through May 3, adding five more races to its confirmed list of postponements. A month later, they called off what was supposed to be the inaugural night race at Martinsville Speedway and now plan to restart the season with May 24th's Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway. 

Confirmed postponements:

Folds of Honor Quik Trip 500 - Atlanta Motor Speedway - 15 March

Dixie Vodka 400 - Homestead-Miami Speedway - 22 March

O'Reilly Auto Parts 500 - Texas Motor Speedway - 29 March

Food City 500 - Bristol Motor Speedway - 5 April

Toyota Owners 400 - Richmond Raceway - 19 April

GEICO 500 - Talladega Superspeedway - 26 April

Dover 400 - Dover International Speedway - 3 May

Blue-Emu Maximum Pain Relief 500 - Martinsville Speedway - 9 May

When will the 2020 IndyCar season begin?

 

Photo by: Scott R LePage / Motorsport Images

The 2020 IndyCar season won't be getting underway until at least June, at Texas Motor Speedway.

Initially, the series called off its first four events in St Petersburg, Barber Motorsport Park in Alabama, Long Beach and the Circuit of the Americas.

Then on March 26, the GMR Grand Prix of Indianapolis was confirmed as moving to July 4, forming a unique and very welcome double-header with the NASCAR Xfinity round which this year is switching from the Speedway to the IMS road course.

At the same time, the Indianapolis 500 was shifted to August, with qualifying occurring over the weekend of Aug. 15-16 and the 104th running of the race being held on Aug. 23.

The postponement until 2021 of the Summer Olympics in Tokyo freed up the July/August schedule for IndyCar's TV partner NBC, allowing a shuffle of the July and August schedule beyond just the insertion of the two Indianapolis races. The Honda Indy 200 at Mid-Ohio will now run on Aug. 9, and the Bommarito Automotive Group 500 at World Wide Technology Raceway at Gateway is now set for Aug. 30. The Grand Prix of Portland, too, has been shifted back one week.

On April 6, IndyCar revealed that what had been set as the new season-opening event – the Detroit Grand Prix double-header – had also bitten the dust, and with no hope of rescheduling. 

In its stead, both the Iowa Speedway and WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca events would be turned into double-headers, while a second event on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course – the Harvest Grand Prix – had been added for Saturday, Oct. 3.

However, it has not been set as a finale, because what was once regarded as a canceled season-opener, the 17th Indy car race at St. Petersburg, has been redefined as postponed. The hope is that it will be the 2020 closer, to be held in mid October.

So, as of April 6, the situation is this: 

Confirmed cancellations:

Barber Motorsport Park, Birmingham, Alabama - 5 April
Long Beach, California - 19 April
Circuit of the Americas, Austin, Texas - 26 April
Belle Isle, Detroit, Michigan - 30-31 May

Revised, tentative 2020 NTT IndyCar Series schedule:

Saturday, June 6 - Texas Motor Speedway 
Sunday, June 21 - Road America 
Saturday, June 27 - Richmond Raceway 
Saturday, July 4 - Indianapolis Motor Speedway Road Course 
Sunday, July 12 - Streets of Toronto 
Friday, July 17 - Iowa Speedway 
Saturday, July 18 - Iowa Speedway 
Sunday, Aug. 9 - Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course 
Sunday, Aug. 23 - Indianapolis 500 Mile Race 
Sunday, Aug. 30 - World Wide Technology Raceway at Gateway
Sunday, Sept. 13 - Portland International Raceway 
Saturday, Sept. 19 - WeatherTech Raceway at Laguna Seca 
Sunday, Sept. 20 - WeatherTech Raceway at Laguna Seca 
Saturday, Oct. 3 - Indianapolis Motor Speedway Road Course 
TBD expected finale - Streets of St. Petersburg

When will the World Superbike season resume?

Chaz Davies, ARUBA.IT Racing Ducati

Photo by: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images

World Superbike was fortunate to squeeze in its season-opener in Phillip Island shortly before the COVID-19 situation dramatically worsened in Europe.

However, not long after the three Phillip Island races, won by Toprak Razgatlioglu, Jonathan Rea and Alex Lowes respectively, it was announced that the second round at Qatar - which was due to take place a week after the MotoGP race - was placed on hold.

A revised calendar was subsequently issued that did not give the Qatar round a new date, but did feature the third round of the season at Jerez being rescheduled for October. The Assen race was postponed on March 24, and rescheduled for late August.

In mid-April, another calendar revision was issued with May's Imola round being axed entirely and the following two events at Aragon and Misano being postponed, meaning the season now won't resume until July's Donington Park round at the earliest.

Revised 2020 WSBK calendar:

When will the Formula E season resume?

Felipe Massa, Venturi, EQ Silver Arrow 01 Maximilian Günther, BMW I Andretti Motorsports, BMW iFE.20, Daniel Abt, Audi Sport ABT Schaeffler, Audi e-tron FE06

Photo by: Dom Romney / Motorsport Images

As it stands, the 2019/20 Formula E season has been placed on hold until at least the end of June amid the ongoing coronavirus crisis.

The Sanya E-Prix was first to be postponed at the beginning of the COVID-19 outbreak, followed by the Rome E-Prix after the spread intensified dramatically in northern Italy - meaning the country is on lockdown.

Formula E's announcement in early March meant that the Paris round, along with calendar newcomers Seoul and Jakarta, have also been postponed until further notice. In mid-April series chiefs made the call to postpone the Berlin race scheduled for late June, leaving only two rounds left on the current schedule: New York and London.

FE boss Alejandro Agag has expressed hope that as many as five or six races, spread across two or three events, can still be scheduled to conclude the campaign.

Confirmed postponements:

Sanya E-Prix - China - 21 March

Rome E-Prix - Italy - 4 April 

Paris E-Prix - France - 18 April

Seoul E-Prix - South Korea - 3 May 

Jakarta E-Prix - Indonesia - 6 June 

Berlin E-Prix - Germany - 21 June

Read Also:

• How Formula E set an example for F1 to follow

When will the FIA World Endurance Championship season resume?

#8 Toyota Gazoo Racing Toyota TS050: Sébastien Buemi, Kazuki Nakajima, Brendon Hartley

Photo by: JEP / Motorsport Images

Following the cancellation of the Sebring 1000 Miles event, the FIA World Endurance Championship was left with little option but to postpone the following race at Spa, that was due to take place on April 25, leaving only the Le Mans 24 Hours left on the 2019/20 schedule.

The ACO then postponed the 24 Hours of Le Mans until September 19-20, using a date similar to that used in 1968 when strikes and civil unrest forced it from its usual mid-summer spot. 

ACO President Pierre Fillon told Motorsport.com that he's willing to push back Le Mans until as late as November, should it become impossible to host the race on its rescheduled September date.

The preceding Spa WEC race has been provisionally pencilled in for August 15, but this could become a closed-doors race given the Belgian government has banned all mass gatherings until the end of August.

Postponing Le Mans will mean a later start to the next WEC season, which was originally due to begin in September at Silverstone but will now instead kick off in March next year, most likely at Sebring.

As such, the Silverstone, Monza, Fuji and Kyalami races on the original 2020/21 calendar are all in jeopardy, with series boss Gerard Neveu not ruling out a condensed schedule.

Confirmed cancellations/postponements:

Sebring 1000 Miles - USA - 13 March (cancelled, replaced by new Bahrain race)

Spa 6 Hours - Belgium - 25 April (postponed to August 15)

Le Mans 24 Hours - France - 13-14 June (postponed to September 19-20)

What's happening in Supercars?

Jamie Whincup, Triple Eight Race Engineering Holden

Photo by: Dirk Klynsmith / Motorsport Images

Supercars will target a June return to racing, with the next three rounds now formally postponed.

The Tasmania, New Zealand and Perth rounds have all been called off, with the current plan centered around Winton being the next event on the first weekend of June.

A call on the Townsville race will be made by May 15.

Read Also:

• Supercars to ban testing during coronavirus break

The series is looking at a range of format and schedule changes for a truncated 2020 season, including a finale as part of the 2021 Bathurst 12 Hour weekend.

The category has also been running an official Esports series to fill the gap, which has already attracted the likes of F1 race winner Max Verstappen and IndyCar champion Will Power.

Confirmed postponements:

Tasmania Super400 - April 3-5

Auckland Super400 - April 24-26

Perth SuperNight - May 15-17

When will the World Rally Championship resume?

Elfyn Evans, Scott Martin, Toyota Gazoo Racing WRT Toyota Yaris WRC

Photo by: Toyota Racing

The World Rally Championship was fortunate enough to get three rounds under its belt before being brought to a halt by the COVID-19 pandemic, with the opening Monte Carlo event in January, February's Rally Sweden and Rally Mexico in March all being completed.

However, the final day of Rally Mexico was stopped to help people working in the paddock return home prior to travel restrictions being imposed.

The fifth round in Argentina originally slated for the end of April was also put on hold after the country put a temporary ban on international sporting events. That was followed by the news that the following two events in Portugal and Italy would also have to be delayed, meaning the season now won't resume until July's Safari Rally in Kenya.

Confirmed postponements:

Rally Argentina - April 30-1 May

Rally Portugal - May 21-24

Rally Italy - June 4-8

Elsewhere in the rallying world, the World Rallycross season-opener in Barcelona has been postponed. The following round in Portugal also suffered a similar fate, while the Spa race has been moved from May to October.

How will coronavirus affect other international events?

Jamie Green, Audi Sport Team Rosberg, Audi RS 5 DTM

Photo by: Alexander Trienitz

After cancelling its pre-season test at Hockenheim, on March 25 the DTM announced a new calendar, with the season now set to commence at the Norisring in July - with the opening five rounds of the calendar all being given new dates in the latter half of the year. However, the opening races of the season are now in doubt because of new preventive measures by various governments in Europe.

The FIA World Touring Car Cup has cancelled its opening round at the Hungaroring and has also been forced to shelve its Nurburgring round, due to take place in support of the 24-hour race that has been shifted to September. The BTCC meanwhile issued a new calendar late in April, revealing that the season would now start in August and end in November.

In Japan, both Super Formula and SUPER GT have delayed the opening races of their respective schedules. Super Formula is now due to get underway at Motegi on August 29-30, while a reshuffled SUPER GT calendar now begins at Okayama in mid-July. SUPER GT is planning to host its overseas races in Thailand and Malaysia during the winter. 

The IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship is on hold until at least June's Watkins Glen round, with the Sebring 12 Hours having been rescheduled for November, Long Beach and Detroit cancelled and Mid-Ohio moved back to September.

Elsewhere in sportscar racing, the European Le Mans Series has dropped Silverstone from its revised calendar, and the GT World Challenge Europe (formerly Blancpain GT Series) has also been forced to substantially alter its schedule, including pushing back its blue riband Spa 24 Hours round to October.

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