A statement issued from MotoGP advises, “The FIM, IRTA and Dorna Sports confirm the cancellation of the 2024 Argentina GP.
“Due to the current circumstances in Argentina, the Promoter of the event has communicated that it is currently unable to guarantee the services required for the Grand Prix to take place in 2024 at MotoGP standards.
“This event will not be replaced on the 2024 calendar. MotoGP hopes to return to race at Termas de Rio Hondo in 2025.”
MotoGP had been set to descend on Termas de Rio Hondo for Round 3 of the 2024 season on April 5-7 for an event twinned with the Grand Prix of the Americas on the following weekend.
Instead, there will now be two full weekends off between Round 2 at Portugal’s Algarve (‘Portimao’) on March 22-24 and the new Round 3 at the Circuit of The Americas on April 12-14.
The decision is believed to be related to the election of Javier Milei as Argentina’s President late last year.
Milei is a proponent of small government and it is thought that funding cuts undermined the viability of the MotoGP round.
The development is the latest in an especially tumultuous period for Argentina’s motorcycle grand prix, which had initially returned to the calendar in 2014.
It missed the 2020 and 2021 seasons due to the COVID-19 pandemic, during which the Termas de Rio Hondo pit building was destroyed by fire.
The following year, Friday action had to be cancelled due to freight delays, with a heavily compressed Saturday schedule.
As it stands, there are now 21 rounds on the calendar, but doubts persist yet again about Kazakhstan, which saw its would-be inaugural event cancelled last year.
The news also creates doubt over IndyCar’s moves to try and stand up an event in Argentina.
Today, the 2024 MotoGP pre-season resumes with the start of the Shakedown Test at Sepang.
Thanks to new concession rules, Honda’s and Yamaha’s big gun riders will be in action at the Malaysian Grand Prix venue.
Specifically, Repsol Honda’s Joan Mir and Luca Marini; LCR Honda’s Johann Zarco and Takaaki Nakagami; and Monster Energy Yamaha’s Fabio Quartararo and Alex Rins are all set to ride, as is GasGas rookie Pedro Acosta.
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