The 2020 Isle Of Man TT Won't Be Happening Due To Coronavirus Concerns
The start of the 2020 motorsport calendar is beginning to a look a little quiet. As ever-stricter measures from governments and organisations across the globe come into force to limit the spread of the Coronavirus and the Covid-19 disease it causes, multiple events have been either postponed or cancelled outright.
The latest high-profile casualty is the Isle of Man TT. Originally due to take place from 30 May to 13 June, the plug has now been pulled. In a statement, Isle of Man Minister for Enterprise Laurence Skelly said:
“The decision to cancel has not been taken lightly and all options including postponement and delaying the decision have been considered in detail. Representatives from the Isle of Man Government will now discuss the implications with all relevant businesses, stakeholders and individuals affected by this cancellation, which it recognises will be significant.
‘With the visitor restriction in place for the foreseeable future we wanted to make the decision now to give businesses, visitors and all involved stakeholders time to manage the impact going forward. The Isle of Man, and the Isle of Man TT, are faced with unique challenges regarding COVID-19 and making this decision will provide certainty to teams, competitors, sponsors and stakeholders of the event and to visitors across the globe.
‘The decision also aims to provide reassurance for our residents and healthcare professionals that the health and well-being of the Isle of Man’s residents is the single biggest priority and focus of this Government.”
The announcement follows the last-minute cancellation of the Australian Grand Prix plus the postponement of the China, Vietnam and Bahrain GPs, the cancellation of the Qatar MotoGP round and many more besides in the motorsport world.
This is the first major motorsport event to be cancelled so far in the future, however, which makes us wonder what other occasions are going to be for the chop in the near future.
Growing up on a diet of World Rally Championship highlights and lengthy Gran Turismo 2 sessions, a life in cars was as good as inevitable for Matt.
Comments
I thought the TT drivers already have a death wish. Corona would just a that touch more excitement…
Race formats such as: who can race the longest with a fever
Well it had to be said it would add the madness back to the sport!
Best to halt it than to risk thousands of people as I have said before “The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few”
I guess we can just cancel everything 2020 all together because this outbreak is going to take a very long time. :/
Stupid. It’s just a cold ffs, i’ve got it now and it’s literally a very mild cold. The old people who are at risk of dying are hardly going to be at the TT are they?
No, it’s not “just a cold FFS”. Plenty of older people go (as do people in the higher risk group - people with Type 1 Diabetes etc) and in any case, younger people will catch it and pass it on to others. Infection rate is higher than the flu, as is the mortality rate. According to modelling done by scientists at the Imperial College of London, if the UK does nothing, the infection rate would be 80% and 510,000 people would die by August. This is why things are being shut down.
Arnt the Isle of Man TT drivers so hardcore they use Iron filings when the coffee runs out?
Another thing to consider is the Isle of Man only has two hospitals. Which are already usually overwhelmed by the race. so if someone brings Corona it just going to make everything even worse.
It would have been nice if the race would’ve been postponed to late summer/early automn rather than entirely cancelled though.