2009 MotoGP World Championship Calendar

Cycle News Staff | July 25, 2008

The 2009 MotoGP World Championship starts and finishes later, has one new venue, and has a number of date changes to alleviate back to back races. New to the calendar is the Hungarian Grand Prix on a new track being built at Lake Balaton. The Hungarian round replaces the dropped Chinese Grand Prix at Shanghai, though the Lake Balaton race will run much later in the year. The first date change on the calendar is the Japanese Grand Prix at Motegi. Traditionally run near the end of the year, around the time of the Australian and Malaysia GP’s, the race will now run as the second round of the season, two weeks after the season-opening night race in Qatar. Then comes the start of the European season with the Spanish GP at Jerez de la Frontera, followed at two week intervals by the French GP at Le Mans, Italian GP at Mugello, Catalunya GP at Montmelo, and Dutch TT in Assen. Previously the Italian and Catalunya GP’s were a week apart. Following Saturday’s Assen race, the series packs up and flies to Monterey for the Red Bull U.S. GP, now two weeks earlier than the traditional late July date. Two weeks later the series returns to Europe for the German GP at the Sachsenring followed immediately by the British round at Donington Park. Donington Park has traditionally run in late June. The end of the British GP marks the start of the summer break which ends, as is traditional, with the Czech Grand Prix in Brno, now on August 16. Two weeks later the series returns to the U.S. for the second annual Red Bull Indianapolis GP on August 30, two weeks earlier than this year’s race. Three more European races come next; Misano on September 13, Hungary on September 20, and Portugal after two more weeks on October 4. The final two flyaways, Phillip Island on October 18 and Sepang on October 25, follow, with the season ending, as usual, in Valencia, but now on November 8. 2009 MotoGP Calendar: April 12: Qatar, Losail April 26: Japan, Motegi May 3: Spain, Jerez May 17: France, Le Mans May 31: Italy, Mugello June 14: Catalunya, Catalunya June 27: Netherlands, Assen July 5: United States, Laguna Seca July 19: Germany, Sachsenring July 26: Great Britain, Donington Park August 16: Czech Republic, Brno August 30: Indianapolis, Indianapolis September 13: San Marino, Misano September 20: Hungary, Lake Balaton October 4: Portugal, Estoril October 18: Australia, Phillip Island October 25: Malaysia, Sepang November 8: Valencia, Valencia.