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After the cancellation of the Qatar round and moving Thailand to later in the year, the first opportunity to see MotoGP on track was going to be a private test session organized at Jerez between 18 and 20 March. A test behind closed doors, with the presence of KTM, which had booked the track, together with Suzuki, Honda and Aprilia. Each of these manufacturers was going to take part in the test in question with their own test team, but Aprilia and KTM, taking advantage of the concession rule, could also have brought along its factory riders as well as the testers.
Today, however, the news has emerged about the cancellation of air links between Italy and Spain in force from today until March 25. This news, together with the current ministerial decree that has effectively put Italy in quarantine, makes it extremely difficult to imagine the test taking place regularly, at least for all the Italian staff. In the case of Aprilia, this is a large part of the test team and also Lorenzo Savadori, confirmed in his new role of tester, could have difficulties similar to those of the rest of the team.
So far there has been no official communication on the matter, also because as it is not an official test organized by Dorna, no media coverage of the event was expected. The cancellation of flights between Italy and Spain is in any case a real blow to the heart of the paddock of the entire world championship, because in fact the vast majority of people present in the paddock in all categories reside in one of these two countries.
Needless to say, the SBK round also scheduled for Jerez on the weekend of 27-29 March is increasingly at risk. No decision has yet been taken on this matter and once again, as it was for the Losail Superbike round, there is very little information. No change of calendar has been communicated to the teams, and for now the Andalusian round of the SBK world championship is confirmed, but the situation is obviously in constant evolution and updates are sure to arrive soon.
