The 2023 Kazakhstan GP has been cancelled.
The FIM, IRTA and Dorna Sports has confirmed the event will not go ahead as planned for July 7-9 at the Hermann Tilke-designed Sokol International Racetrack.
This year’s event was the first of a five-year contract for the venue, which instead will host its first MotoGP event in 2024 instead.
A brief statement from MotoGP stated that the event’s cancellation for 2023 is a result of “Ongoing homologation works … paired with current global operational challenges”.
There will not be a replacement event for the 2023 MotoGP season, which extends the summer break to five weeks, bookended with the Dutch GP at Assen on June 23-25 and the British GP at Silverstone on August 4-6.
The altered calendar also means that this year – the 75th season of the premier class – will now consist of 20 events, although it still sees 40 races given the new Sprint format that’s been introduced for every MotoGP weekend.
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With the Kazakhstan GP cancelled, India will now become the 30th country to host a motorcycle Grand Prix since 1949 and the 74th venue to stage a premier class race when it hosts the Indian GP on September 22-24.
The India GP will take place at the Buddh International Circuit, also designed by Tilke, which hosted the first Formula 1 Indian Grand Prix in 2011.
The news comes ahead of this weekend’s Spanish MotoGP at Jerez, where Repsol Honda rider Marc Marquez will miss his third consecutive event, with 23-year-old HRC World Superbike rider Iker Lecuona stepping in as his replacement.
Italian Marco Bezzecchi leads the standings on 64 points on his Mooney VR46 Ducati, ahead of opening round winner Francesco Bagnaia (Ducati Lenovo) and Texas winner, LCR Honda rider Alex Rins, on 47.
Practice for the 2023 Spanish MotoGP starts at 10:45 local time (18:45 AEST) Friday, April 28.
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