A potential cancellation of the Brno->ke1676 round of the 2015 MotoGP->ke5142 season is looming after ticket sales on the event were suspended because of stalled negotiations on the funding of the race between the Brno city council and the regional government.

The circuit’s official website posted a short statement about the latest developments, saying that a potential cancellation of the race is on the table. Should it come to the point where no progress is made on how to resolve the issue by June 29, 2015, the race could be scrapped and all paid tickets to the race will be refunded.

Wow. That’s big news, albeit not the least bit surprising since the issue of who will fund the event has been a sticking in negotiations between the circuit, the city council, the regional government and the Czech state. All parties want to see the race push through, but none are willing to foot the bill without imposing certain conditions that all parties are amenable to.

There have been funds that have been made available by a number of government bodies, including the Moravian regional government, the city council and the Ministry for Education. But the attached conditions over these funds has become the biggest sticking point in allowing the race to proceed. It’s gotten so bad that numerous deadlines Dorna has imposed for the circuit to pay the rights to host the race have all come and gone, leaving the race in the precarious position of being cancelled should no decision be made on June 29, 2015.

Technically, Dorna is within its rights to drop the hammer and cancel the event already. But doing so would mean turning its back on one of the most popular races of the MotoGP calendar. The Brno GP routinely attracts the biggest audience of any MotoGP race of the season so if the decision is made to scrap the race altogether, that would mean leaving a whole lot of money on the table.

But if the circuit can’t pay Dorna the required payments to host the race, Dorna might have no choice but to scrap it altogether.

That would be a crying shame for all parties involved.

Continue reading to read more about the possible cancellation of the Brno GP.

Why it matters

This is a nightmare on so many levels.

First, there’s that logistics issue of having one less race in the 2015 MotoGP calendar. I know Yamaha’s in full control of the championship standings, but wouldn’t you think it would be better for teammates Valentino Rossi and Jorge Lorenzo to race for the title on a full calendar?

Second, it’s horrible for Czech fans of MotoGP, who routinely come out in droves at the Brno racing circuit to watch this Grand Prix. It’s no accident that this particular round is one of the most important rounds of the season. From a spectator standpoint, fans consistently sell out the circuit and are regarded as some of the most passionate spectators in MotoGP. Robbing them of the chance to watch this season’s dynamic Yamaha showdown is incredibly unfair to them, especially to those who have already paid for tickets to watch the race. Sure, there’s a promise to reimburse those paid tickets, but that’s beside the point. Fans pay good money to watch this race and they’re could get shut out of it because nobody wants to step up to the plate and pay the fees required by Dorna.

Third, the economic ramifications of a race cancellation could be enormous, especially for business owners who rely on the race and the fans it attracts to help generate revenue for their businesses. I’m not on the ground to know this personally, but I’m willing to bet something that a lot of these businesses circle these dates as one of the biggest and most important dates of their year. A cancellation of the race would be horrible for them, too.

I sincerely hope that those people in position to keep this race from getting cancelled smarten up and understand that this race is too important to be messing around with.

Hopefully, they realize that before it’s too late.