Assen World Superbike pushed back to August

The Dutch round of the 2020 World Superbike championship has been rescheduled to August 21-23 amid the coronavirus pandemic.

Assen had been set to host the second round of this year’s World Superbike season following the postponement of the Qatar and Jerez rounds, but the Dutch race weekend initially planned for April 17-19 will now take place in mid-August during the series’ summer holidays.

The move comes as a reaction to the global coronavirus crisis which has seen all major sporting events cancelled until at least May. Assen is currently closed to help stop the spread of COVID-10 in the Netherlands and will remain shut until at least April 6.

As things stand on the current World Superbike race calendar, Imola is set to host the second round following the Phillip Island opener back on February 28-March 1, but that looks increasingly unlikely given the current travel bans and government shutdowns across Italy. The Spanish round at Aragon two weeks later (May 22-24) also looks under threat of rescheduling.

The Dutch World Superbike round slots in between the German round at Oschersleben (July 31-August 2) and the Portuguese event at Portimao (September 4-6).

The Qatar round, initially planned for March 13-15, remains postponed but without a new date set, while Jerez has already been moved to host the 2020 finale on October 23-25.

Further revisions to the current World Superbike race calendar are expected due to the developing coronavirus situation.