A political dispute causes the cancellation of the Argentine MotoGP GP

The 2024 MotoGP Argentine Grand Prix, scheduled for the weekend of April 5 to 7, has been canceled as reported by the World Championship organizing company, Dorna, through a statement this Wednesday.

The main actors in the development of the motorcycle championship, including the International Motorcycle Federation (FIM) and the competition's teams association (IRTA, in its English acronym), have limited themselves to commenting in the brief press release that “the "Current circumstances in Argentina" do not allow "the necessary services for the Grand Prix to take place in 2024 according to MotoGP standards" to be guaranteed.

The private promoter of the event, the OSD Group, regretted in a parallel statement the political circumstances that have led to the cancellation of the event: “As a consequence of the lack of compliance with the contractual obligations assumed by the National Institute for Tourism Promotion (organisation today dependent on the Ministry of the Interior of the Nation) that are essential for the realization of the Grand Prix in the Argentine Republic, it has been decided to cancel the scheduled date of the event."

In recent days, both the provincial government of Santiago del Estero, where the Termas de Río Hondo route that has hosted the event in the country since 2014 is located, and the private investment group have tried to save the situation without success.

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Dorna sources point out to EL PAÍS that the high economic fee of organizing the event was unaffordable without the support of the national government, one of the actors that in 2022 renewed the contract to hold the event in the country.

“If Javier Milei were not president, there would be MotoGP in Argentina this 2024,” they say from the Spanish company.

Since he took office, the president has applied a policy of cuts and adjustments in all areas of the state, provoking a climate of protests and several general strikes in the country.

The president reduced the number of administration ministries by half, from 18 to 9, as soon as he arrived at the Casa Rosada.

The Argentine GP was going to celebrate its ninth edition in the current setting of Termas this year after the cancellations caused in 2020 by the covid-19 pandemic and in 2021 due to damage to the circuit's infrastructure after a large fire.

The sanctions against Russia due to the war in Ukraine, in 2022, also caused the suspension of Friday's training session when a plane with boxes of essential material and several motorcycles of the pilots did not arrive on time due to a technical breakdown and subsequent logistical problems.

A few weeks ago it was also known that the Superbike World Championship, which holds its event in San Juan, would not travel to Argentina this year either after the cancellation of the 2023 edition coinciding with the election period that brought Milei to the presidency of the country. .

BREAKING: the 2024 #ArgentinaGP has been canceled 🚨➡️ https://t.co/VlDdFujBQ7

The event will not be replaced ❌#MotoGP pic.twitter.com/AFo8tN9lPV

— MotoGP™🏁 (@MotoGP) January 31, 2024

Dorna adds in its statement that it will not replace the Argentine round, and expresses its desire to return to the country in 2025. The new calendar for 2024 now has 21 scheduled appointments, also pending the situation in Kazakhstan, a country that has not been able to premiere still due to the consequences of the turbulent geopolitical situation in the region.

The company assures that this GP continues.

In case of suspension of the grand prix in the Asian country, the World Cup promoter does plan to replace that event by traveling to Hungary, established as a reserve stop last year.

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