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The long-running saga of the Finnish GP at the Kymiring is to have another chapter added to it. Today, the FIM announced that the Grand Prix of Finland, due to be held on July 8th, has been canceled. In a press release, the FIM gave the reason for the cancellation as "homologation works" and the "ongoing political situation in the region".

There have long been doubts that the circuit would host a MotoGP race this year. Reports from sources in Finland paint a picture of a circuit which still needs a lot of work doing to it. Though the surface is finished, the rest of the facilities are still not up to the standard necessary to host a MotoGP round.

The Russian invasion of Ukraine was probably the straw that broke the camel's back for the Finnish GP. The Kymiring, in the south east of Finland, was less than four hours away from St. Petersburg in Russia, and the organizers had hoped to attract a lot of Russian fans to the race. The very large numbers of Russian fans who turned up to the homologation test at the track in 2019, which saw test riders try out the surface to gather data for Michelin, proved to the organizers this was a viable business proposition.

For Dorna, this was a way of reaching Russian motorsports fans without the political complications of organizing races inside of Russia, where any race would be at the mercy of rampant corruption and the whimsy of politicians.

Vladimir Putin's decision to invade Ukraine triggered a wave of sanctions, in Europe and the west. Borders between Finland and Russia were closed, with Finland's decision to join NATO raising tensions and shutting off any chance of travel between Russia and Finland. That scuppered a large part of the financial basis for the Finnish GP.

For now, the race has been canceled, and postponed until 2023. The hope is that by then, work at the Kymiring will have been completed, and the circuit will be ready to host a grand prix. The organizers will also be hoping that the war in Ukraine will be over by then, and that Russian fans will be able to travel to Finland, and have the spare cash to be able to spend on going.

It is likely that Dorna's experience of racing at Mandalika in Indonesia earlier this year may also have played a role. MotoGP was lucky to escape a complete debacle, with the rain slowing down the race sufficiently to prevent the bikes from tearing up the track. Dorna may have felt that having one race at a barely completed track was more than enough for one year.

The cancellation will also be welcomed by the teams. Many – especially the Moto2 and Moto3 teams – were concerned by the expense of the race. Travel to the south of Finland was incredibly expensive, requiring trucks to take expensive ferries across the Baltic. Speaking to those involved in the logistics side of MotoGP, they expressed concerns that the costs for the teams were the same as for the flyaway races. Unlike the flyaways, however, the teams would not receive any financial support or freight allowance. The teams would have to cover all costs themselves.

The cancellation of Finland opens up a five-week gap during the summer. With 20 races still left on the calendar, that will be a welcome break.

The press release appears below:

MOTOGP CALENDAR UPDATE: FINLAND POSTPONED TO 2023

The FIM, IRTA and Dorna Sports are obliged to announce changes to the 2022 FIM MotoGP™ World Championship calendar.

Homologation works at the KymiRing, together with the risks caused by the ongoing geopolitical situation in the region, have sadly obliged the cancellation of the Finnish Grand Prix in 2022. The current circumstances have created delays and put the ongoing work at the new circuit at risk. All parties have therefore agreed that the track’s debut must be postponed to 2023, when MotoGP™ looks forward to returning to Finland for the first time in four decades.

The final 2022 FIM MotoGP™ World Championship calendar is therefore expected to comprise 20 rounds.

With the expansion of the MotoGP season to a record 21 races for 2022, the Grand Prix Commission has agreed to increase the number of engines each rider is allowed to use throughout the season. For this year, and if no events are canceled, then each rider will have 8, rather than 7 engines to use throughout the season.

The change is a response to the length of the season, and comes with conditions. Riders will only be allowed to use their 8th engine starting from the 19th event of the season. This gives the riders 7 engines to use for the first 18 events, plus an additional engine to be used from FP1 at the 19th round, the Australian Grand Prix at Phillip Island.

This change will be applied for subsequent seasons as well. From now on, if the MotoGP calendar published before the start of the season has up to 20 races scheduled, then riders will be allowed 7 engines per season. If the calendar has 21 or 22 races (the current maximum number agreed with the teams in the contracts signed with Dorna), then they will be allowed 8 engines, with the 8th only available from the 19th event onward.

The FIM press release appears below:

FIM Grand Prix World Championship
Decisions of the Grand Prix Commission

The Grand Prix Commission, composed of Messrs. Carmelo Ezpeleta (Dorna, Chairman), Paul Duparc (FIM), Herve Poncharal (IRTA) and Biense Bierma (MSMA), assisted by Carlos Ezpeleta (Dorna), Mike Trimby (IRTA, Secretary of the meeting) and Corrado Cecchinelli (Director of Technology), in an electronic meeting held on 8 May 2022, made the following decision:

Technical Regulations

ENGINE USE MOTOGP CLASS – EFFECTIVE IMMEDIATELY

Currently, MotoGP regulations permit manufacturers in the MotoGP class to use a maximum of seven engines during the season. (Nine engines for manufacturers with concessions).

This regulation was established when the calendar comprised less than 20 races.

Because the 2022 calendar foresees 21 races it has been agreed to allow the use of one further engine providing that, ultimately, there are 19 races or more. The extra engine may only be used for the 19th. or subsequent races.

The regulations have been updated as follows:

Less than 21 races published on the official calendar that is issued by the FIM prior to the start of the first race:

•  Manufacturers will have a maximum engine allocation of 7 engines (9 for manufacturers with concessions).

21 or 22 races published on the calendar that is issued by the FIM prior to the start of the first race:

• Manufacturers will have a maximum engine allocation of 8 engines (10 for manufacturers with concessions).

The use of this 8th (or 10th) engine will only be allowed starting from the 19th event.

Three days ago, the bombshell news came out about Suzuki’s decision to leave MotoGP at the end of 2022. So far no official confirmation (nor denial) has been forthcoming from the Hamamatsu factory. Yes, we are all aware of the Golden Week national holiday in Japan, but we cannot forget that lot of careers are hanging on this decision.

We are not just talking about the mechanics and other team members, but the riders themselves too. Because believe it or not, apart from that confidential meeting (that hasn’t remained confidential...) there has been no contact between the team/factory and the riders’ managers. Not with Joan Mir’s manager, for sure, as we have learned.

Anyway this is a crucial year on the rider market, with almost all the current contracts ending at the end of this year. So you all can imagine how upset Paco Sanchez (manager of Joan Mir) is with the current situation.

’This is a really unprofessional attitude’ says the Spaniard's manager, who is coincidentally also a lawyer. ’Nobody from the team or Japan has contacted me to say anything. I understand that Suzuki Motor Corporation obliged the senior team staff not to say anything to anybody. But this is really unfair, unprofessional and an irresponsible way to manage this crisis.’

Sanchez tried to reach Livio Suppo many times from the first moment the news reached him, but his calls were never answered. And if you think that Sanchez (who had left Jerez by Monday) was informed by his rider, you are wrong. He learned it when the journalist who broke the news asked him for a comment.

The Spaniard manager was waiting all Tuesday, before moving into action and starting to reach out to all the team managers who had showed interest in his rider in the past. ’I had waited long enough’ he said Tuesday evening, ’we don’t have any commitment to Suzuki anymore’.

He also emphasized that the rumors about them having a contract with HRC are far from being true. ’From last October our intention was to stay with Suzuki and they also assured me that Joan was their first choice. ’

Sanchez was at Portimão and Jerez as well, and he had several meetings with Suzuki team manager Livio Suppo and MotoGP project leader Shinichi Sahara. They have been finalizing the last couple of details before getting ready to sign a new contract, that as it stands now, will never happen.

Now Sanchez has only one goal: find the best seat for the 2020 World Champion. Maybe it’s still not too late, as apart from Pecco Bagnaia extending with the factory Ducati Team, no other deal has been closed so far this year. Besides Bagnaia, the only seats already filled in factory teams are Marc Marquez with Honda and Brad Binder with KTM through 2024, and Franco Morbidelli with Yamaha for 2023.

It will be interesting to see how the whole situation evolves, how Dorna and the team sponsors will react (the sponsors who also haven’t been informed yet about anything...) and how much will it cost to Suzuki to really leave MotoGP for the second time in a little more than a decade.

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As the paddock packed up after the Jerez test on Monday, held after the Spanish GP at the circuit, the bombshell news emerged that Suzuki is to withdraw from MotoGP at the end of the current season. Motorsport.com's Oriol Puigdemont was the first to break the news, which I have since had confirmed by multiple sources in the MotoGP paddock. The team were told on Monday morning, before the test, with an official announcement expected on Tuesday.

The decision was a financial one. GPOne.com published a story citing sources that say that Suzuki's decision was based on financial grounds, with the aftermath of the Covid-19 pandemic and the war in Ukraine depressing the global economy. Paddock rumor suggests that one of the things Livio Suppo had been brought into Suzuki to do was to make budget cuts where possible, but nobody, not even Suppo, could have expected this decision, which came down from Suzuki's board of directors.

The timing of the withdrawal is bizarre, at least when viewed from a sporting perspective. The factory won a world title in 2020 with Joan Mir, and have two riders widely regarded as among the most talented on the grid. Alex Rins is currently fourth in the championship, 20 points behind the leader Fabio Quartararo, while Joan Mir is sixth, trailing Quartararo by 33 points. The Suzuki GSX-RR is one of the best bikes on the grid, especially since Suzuki's engineers found more horsepower and more torque for the 2022 season. Mir and Rins can be expected to be in the title hunt for 2022, only to be dropped at the end of the season.

The economic costs could be high as well. Suzuki signed a five-year contract with Dorna in April last year, promising to compete in MotoGP from 2022 to 2026. Dorna has bolstered their contracts after Kawasaki withdrew at the end of 2008, during the global financial crisis which followed in the wake of the Lehmann Brothers collapse. The board of directors of Dorna will be meeting to discuss how to address the withdrawal, and a statement will surely follow the announcement by Suzuki.

Suzuki's withdrawal is unlikely to see the grid reduced from 24 to 22 bikes. Instead, the two slots are likely to be taken by an Aprilia satellite team. Aprilia have been trying to convince several satellite teams to switch to Aprilia, as the Noale factory believes the time is right to expand their efforts and to create a space where they can park young talent to be nurtured.

The withdrawal of Suzuki also opens the question of where Alex Rins and Joan Mir will end up. Suzuki's exit blows the rider market open wide, at least behind Fabio Quartararo. Mir is now almost certain to end up at Repsol Honda, the 2020 world champion taking the place of Pol Espargaro alongside Marc Marquez. Alex Rins will be a highly prized rider, especially for a factory like Yamaha who have a very similar bike.

The press release is expected tomorrow. But this is a story which is likely to develop very fast. There are plenty more twists in the road.