The Covid-19 pandemic has pushed back the start of the WorldSBK season even further. After the Assen SBK round, which had been due to kick off the 2021 WorldSBK season, was postponed until July, Estoril had taken over as season opener.

Now, however, the number of Covid-19 cases and the prevalence of the Brazilian variant in Portugal has meant that travel restrictions imposed to combat the virus make holding the Estoril round on the proposed dates extremely uncertain.

As a result, the Estoril round has also been postponed until later in the year. At the current point in time, a new date for the Portuguese round has not been set, but the most likely timing for the race is around July or August.

That is when both the weather conditions are favorable and there are the biggest gaps in the schedule.

The summer break has already been shortened, with the insertion of an additional round at the Circuito de Navarra in Northern Spain.

The track, situated 60km southwest of Pamplona(link is external), in the province of Navarra, has played host to the FIA GT1 championship and the Superleague Formula car races, as well as the RFME Spanish championship motorcycle races, joins Aragon, Barcelona, and Jerez to make it four rounds of WorldSBK in Spain in 2021.

Whether this is a permanent shift to have more Spanish races, or merely a response to another Covid-19 foreshortened season remains to be seen.

The 2021 WorldSBK season now kicks off at the Motorland Aragon circuit on May 21st, with races being held on the 22nd and 23rd of May.

The new calendar and press release appears below:

*All dates, events and the attendance of spectators are subject to the evolution of the global pandemic and the approval of the corresponding governments and authorities.

** (STC) Subject to contract / *** (STH) Subject to homologation /**** (TBA) Venue/event/date to be announced