MX NATS RELEASES NEW 2020 CALENDAR

This year’s nine-round calendar had been due to start at Horsham on 4 April and conclude at Coolum on 23 August, but restrictions on public gatherings and interstate travel that came into effect in March means the series has yet to turn a wheel in anger.

A new calendar was released on 22 April, but WEM stress it’s still provisional and anticipates relaxing of government restrictions in the near future.

Under the revised calendar, nine rounds are retained and racing starts on 9 August - close to when the original calendar was due to finish. In order not to impact on other events, including a potential 2020 supercross championship, all nine rounds will be crammed into a two-month period, concluding on 11 October.

All locations from the original calendar are retained, but their order will change, with a two-week-on two-week-off approach designed to minimise travel and featuring some common-sense scheduling, like holding the Victorian rounds on consecutive weekends, for example.

“It is important that everyone understands that the new calendar is a projected series schedule with the current information that we have available to us,” said WEM’s Kevin Williams. “We are seeing positive information on the slowdown of this outbreak and we can begin to anticipate what a return to some normality in life looks like. Following the ease of restrictions will be the projected return to sporting events and, ultimately, a time for us to go racing.

“We are putting our best foot forward to give everyone the most time to prepare, including the riders, teams and hosting clubs. The major hurdles that will disrupt the projected start of the series in August will be the Government not lifting the interstate travel ban and a continued restriction on the number of people allowed to attend outdoor events.

“We have continually stated that WEM is committed to delivering a full nine round series in 2020 and this is still our goal, as always we will keep everyone updated with the relevant information as soon as it becomes available,” Williams added.