The 2022 provisional MotoGP calendar is out, with a full season of racing scheduled … errr, maybe.

The new calendar uploaded to MotoGP’s website sees 21 races scheduled for the 2022 season, over a 35-week season. Much of the calendar revisits familiar territory; there’s a nighttime race at Losail on March 6, under the lights in the desert night. Most of the rest of the season re-visits familiar tracks: Assen, the Sachsenring, Aragon, Motegi, and so on.

There are two new tracks tacked onto this year’s schedule. After leaving Qatar, the circus is headed to Indonesia, to race at the new Mandalika International Street Circuit on March 20. This is a very important stop for MotoGP, which is very keen to expand further into moto-mad Asian markets. However, this event is still subject to track homologation. As well, you can’t exactly get to Indonesia from Qatar in a transport truck convoy, at least not very quickly. Although MotoGP doesn’t say it, this race is very much subject to the current vagaries of international airline travel, which has been made considerably more difficult thanks to ongoing COVID-19 breakouts.

The other new track is Finland’s KymiRing, with the race scheduled for July 10. This is also the result of years of hard work, trying to get a GP race into northern Europe, and taking advantage of Finland’s long history of top-tier motorcycle racing. The KymiRing actually appeared on the 2021 schedule, but was canceled (thanks again, COVID-19) and replaced with the Styrian GP.

Finally, American race fans will note that the Austin GP is back on the schedule, with racers scheduled to run Circuit of the Americas on April 10. There could be a problem here, though. When the Texas round ran in early October, several top riders complained about the track surface, saying it needed to be resurfaced. Will COTA make that happen between now and next April? Expect a lot of fussing from the riders and teams, if the surface is not upgraded before next season.

Provisional 2022 MotoGP Calendar

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