Motorcycling-Thai MotoGP race postponed over coronavirus

The second MotoGP race of the season, scheduled for Thailand on March 22, has been postponed indefinitely due to the coronavirus epidemic, MotoGP said on Monday.

The decision to postpone the event in the northeastern province of Buriram came a day after this weekend's season-opening race in Qatar was also canceled due to travel curbs on participants from Italy and elsewhere. Six riders in the championship's 22-strong grid come from Italy, which has Europe's worst coronavirus outbreak.

"The Thai government has communicated that it won't be possible to hold the Thailand Grand Prix on its original date," MotoGP said in a statement with governing body FIM and teams' association IRTA. An alternative date would be considered this season, it added in the statement. Thai Deputy Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul, who is also the health minister and chairman of the event's organizing committee, had announced the cancellation earlier.

The race is the latest in a long line of international sporting events affected by the flu-like virus that originated in China late last year and has killed nearly 3,000 people and infected over 86,500 globally. Thailand has reported 43 cases since January and recorded its first fatality on Sunday.

The MotoGP championship now moves to the United States with next month's Grand Prix of the Americas in Austin, Texas. Formula One, whose season starts in Australia on March 15, has already canceled its Chinese Grand Prix scheduled for Shanghai on April 19.