Yesterday, both the Australian Formula 1 and MotoGP rounds for 2021 have been officially axed from the calendar following rising concerns of COVID-19 in the country (the Delta strain is really something else, eh?) Dorna Sports, the folks in charge of MotoGP, has updated the 2021 calendar, where they've replaced the Phillip Island round with Portimão, Portugal.

The Portuguese MotoGP round will take place from 5-7 November 2021. They've also announced that the Malaysian MotoGP round which was set to take place at the end of October will be moved forward to 22-24 October 2021, one week after the Thai GP round at the Chang International Circuit.

This puts the Malaysian MotoGP round well within the third phase of the country's National Recovery Plan, where hopefully the number of COVID-19 cases will go down to less than 2,000 cases per day and 40% of the population fully vaccinated.

If that's the case (and everyone does their part in combating COVID-19 here in Malaysia), the Malaysian MotoGP round for 2021 might just go ahead as planned with spectators being allowed to watch the races at the Sepang International Circuit (to some extent). If the country is unable to do so, we have a feeling that it'll get cancelled. Again.

Let's do our part, folks. Stay safe!