Earlier in the week, MotoGP announced that they had canceled the test that was to be the pre-season three-day opening test of 2021 at the Sepang round after announcing a state of emergency in the country as a result on progressive COVID-19 infections. At the time MotoGP confirmed that the Qatar test was still going ahead as expected.
A meeting between MotoGP teams, promoters Dorna Sports and the governing body of the FIM was held on Thursday to discuss a number of topics related to the upcoming season. At this meeting it was agreed to add two more days to the Qatar test in March, with riders receiving official permission running on 6 and 7 March ahead of the three days of running taking place between 10- March 12th.
Testers and spies were shaken into the calendar for March 5th.
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Read a brief statement from MotoGP: “Following a recent meeting between the Competition group and MotoGP class teams, changes to the Qatar Test schedule were agreed.
“Two more official test days and a shake-up test day will now be held at the Los Angeles International Circuit in March, ahead of and in addition to the previously confirmed Qatar Test, allowing teams to prepare as well as ahead of the 2021 season.
“On March 5, a shake-up test will be conducted where participation will be restricted only to test riders and MotoGP class spies. On March 6 and 7, each rider can participate in two additional official test days. ”
Motorsport.com said Thursday’s meeting was also set to highlight talks about moving the date of the season’s opening round in Qatar. The Qatar Grand Prix is currently scheduled for March 28, but it could now have been set a week earlier to ban a Bahrain Formula 1 GP.
Moving the race forward to March 21 would make it easier for loggers to stay in Qatar after the test for the race, avoiding resumes last year due to travel restrictions.
MotoGP does not yet comment on any possible calendar changes.