After a 2020 reduced to 14 grands prix and a 2021 season still deprived of travel outside Europe – with the exception of Qatar and the United States – MotoGP hopes that the health crisis will not disturb its calendar for 2022 so much.
At the moment, Dorna maintains its 21 races on different continents, but COVID-19 could still contaminate this route, especially if positive cases appear among the drivers.
Marc Marquez and Jack Miller are among the proper names who contracted COVID-19 this winter, with Jack being the most recent. The Australian’s positive in January forced him to postpone the presentation of his team after being blocked for several days in his native Australia.
Forced to travel around the world and meet crowds of people in hotels, circuits and transport, pilots are particularly exposed to the risk of contagion.
As proof of this, in Mandalika positives were registered in members of Joan Mir’s team.
“No one has it easy these days,” commented the Ducati rider at the end of the Mandalika test. “As soon as I finished, I took off my suit and took it [myself] to the brand, because my assistant also tested positive.”
Despite having the vaccine, drivers like Jack Miller and Fabio Quartararo feel helpless and recognize some tension before approaching the start of the season.
“I’m crossing my fingers,” says Fabio. “I had it a long time ago, but I know you can get it again. You can catch it anywhere. You can’t control it.”
“It’s a nightmare. We’ve all been to the same places [around Mandalika], which is the hotel and the circuit, that’s all. We didn’t break any protocol, we didn’t do anything. We stayed there, and I in particular kept quiet. I didn’t even go to the beach and I didn’t do much on Thursday [before the test started]. But that’s the way it is in the world right now.”
“I got COVID-19 on my farm, I didn’t go anywhere, I didn’t do anything and I still got it there. It’s a bit scary when you’re a driver, because if you have to miss a race for that, it’s not going to be fun. It makes us nervous, but that’s how it is. I think we just have to try to be as careful as possible, now more than ever.”
However, the improvement in the health situation on a global scale should be synonymous with a reduction in the protocols for the grand prix. In Qatar, the bubble operation imposed last year, which only allowed travel between the hotel and the circuit, will not be maintained this year.
“I don’t mind bubbles, in the end, I don’t go out and do anything, so it doesn’t affect me as much. Things just seem to get easier and easier. It’s clearly better than it was in 2020, so I don’t feel sorry for myself.” hopeful the Australian pilot.
