IRVINE, Calif. – The Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta round of the MotoAmerica Series has been rescheduled from April 17-19 to July 31 through Aug. 2 due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

With the opening round of the series – originally scheduled for Circuit of The Americas in Austin, Texas – already postponed until November because of the coronavirus, Road Atlanta was slated to be the opening round of the MotoAmerica Series.

As it stands now, the series will begin at Virginia Int’l Raceway in Alton, Va., May 1-3, though MotoAmerica is continuing to monitor that situation as well.

“We are all in this together, as everyone in the world is affected in some way by COVID-19,” MotoAmerica President Wayne Rainey said. “There are a lot of people who are struggling right now on so many levels. Even though racing motorcycles doesn’t rank highly in the list of problems going on in our world, our teams and our race tracks rely on racing because it’s their livelihood. With that being said, racing right now just isn’t possible.

“We’ve been working with the good people at Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta to find an alternative date and we’re happy that with their help we’ve been able to obtain the July 31-Aug. 2 weekend,” Rainey added. “We really appreciate them working with us because this is obviously a very difficult time for them as well.”

With the change in the schedule, Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta will now host the fifth round of the series, with round six following a weekend later at Pittsburgh Int’l Race Complex in Wampum, Pa., Aug. 7-9.

“Our championship is very similar to Formula One, MotoGP, IndyCar and IMSA in that our events are held over four days, including our move-in day,” MotoAmerica’s Chuck Aksland explained. “Our events are held at facilities that also host the premier series mentioned and adjusting the calendar can be difficult, as it requires a lot of organization and cooperation with the tracks and other series. Our goal is to race at every track that is on our current schedule and we are working hard on a daily basis trying to finalize dates.”

Fans who have already purchased tickets for the Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta round can use those tickets for the rescheduled July 31-Aug. 2 weekend.