Assen WorldSBK Round Postponed Until August, But More Calendar Changes Still to Come

The COVID-19 outbreak has caused further delay in the WorldSBK calendar. Today, it was announced that the Dutch round of WorldSBK, due to be held at Assen on the weekend of April 19th, has been postponed, and pushed back to August.

The postponement of the Assen round became inevitable on Monday night, after the Dutch government extended its ban on public events until June 1st, and tightened restrictions on travel and gatherings.

Preparations for the change had been going on for some time, as the TT Circuit in Assen has a full calendar of events, with some kind of activity taking place on most days of the year.

The new spot slots the WorldSBK race in between two other major events, the Gamma Racing Day, from August 7th-9th, and the Assen DTM round, from September 4th-6th.

The postponement of Assen is unlikely to be the last change to the WorldSBK calendar. The calendar has now been labeled as provisional by the FIM and Dorna, a wise move given the current state of the coronavirus crisis.

The rounds in Italy and Spain are also likely to be postponed and rescheduled, given the current state of affairs in those countries. Another calendar revision is expected later this week.

Provisional 2020 WorldSBK Championship Calendar:

Date	Country	Circuit	WorldSBK	WorldSSP	WorldSSP300
Feb 28th – March 1st	Australia	Phillip Island Grand Prix Circuit	X	X
March 13th – 15th	Qatar	Losail International Circuit*	X	X
May 8th – 10th	Italy	Autodromo Internazionale Enzo e Dino Ferrari di Imola	X	X	X
May 22nd – 24th	Spain	MotorLand Aragón	X	X	X
June 12th – 14th	Italy	Misano World Circuit “Marco Simoncelli”	X	X	X
July 3rd – 5th	United Kingdom	Donington Park	X	X	X
July 31st – August 2nd	Germany	Motorsport Arena Oschersleben	X	X	X
August 21st – 23rd	The Netherlands	TT Circuit Assen	X	X	X
September 4th – 6th	Portugal	Autódromo Internacional do Algarve	X	X	X
September 18th – 20th	Spain	Circuit de Barcelona – Catalunya	X	X	X
October 2nd – 4th	France	Circuit de Nevers Magny-Cours	X	X	X
October 9th – 11th	Argentina	Circuito San Juan Villicum	X	X
October 23rd – 25th	Spain	Circuito de Jerez – Ángel Nieto	X	X	X