MotoGP wild-cards locked out of closed-door races

UPDATE: The Grand Prix Commision has officially announced that wild-cards will not be allowed in 2020:

'The likelihood of any events in 2020 needing to be held behind closed doors means that it is necessary to keep participant numbers to the absolute minimum. It is also important to allow optimum utilisation of pit box space by the contracted teams.

'The Commission have therefore decided that wild card entries, in all classes, will be suspended for the 2020 season. This decision was also in line with cost reduction policies for MotoGP Class manufacturers.

'There is every intention to restore wild card entries in 2021 but this decision will be reviewed prior to the 2021 season.'

In order to minimise the paddock size for 'closed-doors' races, and avoid extra costs, the disrupted 2020 MotoGP season will not feature wild-card entries.

That's bad news for test riders Jorge Lorenzo (Yamaha), Michele Pirro (Ducati), Mika Kallio (KTM), Stefan Bradl (Honda), Sylvain Guintoli (Suzuki) and Bradley Smith (Aprilia, unless he replaces Andrea Iannone) who were expected to take part in occasional races this season. Even Dani Pedrosa (KTM) did not completely rule out making an appearance.

But with a strict cap on paddock members being a central part of the safety protocol created by Dorna to try and persuade governments to allow races to go ahead, starting at Jerez in July, there was no room for any extra entries.

"Yes, we agreed not to have any wild-cards this year, just to limit the number of people in the paddock and also to limit extra costs. To really make sure that the hardcore show survives fit and healthy," KTM motorsport director Pit Beirer told Crash.net.

In a normal season, non-concession manufacturers (Honda, Ducati, Yamaha and Suzuki) are allowed up to three wild-cards, with a maximum of six for concession manufacturers Aprilia and KTM.

The highest-profile wild-card announced for 2020 was Lorenzo at Catalunya, which would have been the newly-retired Spaniard's first race for Yamaha since 2016.

That Barcelona round, scheduled for June 5-7, has now been postponed but is expected to feature somewhere on the revised 2020 calendar. However Lorenzo, who was also rumoured to appear at Motegi, will now need to wait until 2021 for his MotoGP race return.

MotoGP estimates that a minimum of around 1,300 people will be needed to put on closed-door races, including essential team members for all three grand prix classes, race management, circuit staff and TV broadcasting.