MotoGP Releases Provisional Calendar For Next Season

MotoGP issued a 19-round provisional calendar for the '19 season that features "no changes of venue compared to this year's schedule," according to Jamie Klein of AUTOSPORT. Efforts by series promoter Dorna to add a 20th race to the calendar in Mexico were abandoned, "largely due to safety fears surrounding the suitability of the Mexico City circuit for bike racing." Finland's under-construction KymiRing track, which was due to host its first MotoGP round in '19, "will also not be completed in time to join the calendar for next year." After riders criticized the short length of this year's summer break, a four-week gap between races has been restored "by making the Assen and Sachsenring rounds back-to-back," with the latter taking place a week earlier than in '18 (AUTOSPORT, 9/4).