MotoGP has made official the cancellation of the Malaysian GP for the second year in a row, and will instead again run a second Misano race.
The Sepang race lasted the longest of the late-season Oceania/Asia flyaways that were pencilled into the original calendar, but has now also fallen by the wayside, as anticipated last week by The Race.
Cancellation has been forced by “the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and the resulting entry restrictions for Malaysia”, MotoGP said.
The championship “looks forward to returning to Sepang in 2022 to race in front of our dedicated Malaysian fans”.
The date of the planned Sepang race, October 24, will instead mark a second Misano race, which will come over a month after the first Misano event of 2021.
Last year, the two Misano races ran back-to-back, but it is understood this was not possible in the current situation due to tyre manufacture deadlines.
They were won by two Yamaha ridder, Franco Morbidelli and Maverick Vinales (the latter profiting from a surprise late-race fall for Ducati’s Francesco Bagnaia), but Morbidelli is currently sidelined through injury while Vinales has been suspended by Yamaha.
The cancellation leaves the United States-based COTA as MotoGP’s sole planned venue outside of Europe for the rest of 2021, but the complicated COVID situation in Austin and its surroundings means a Europe-only finish to the season is a distinct possibility.
PROVISIONAL END OF 2021 MOTOGP CALENDAR
August 29: Silverstone
September 12: Aragon
September 19: Misano
October 3: COTA
October 24: Misano
November 7: Portimao
November 14: Valencia
