COVID-19 fears force AMA and FIM to cancel Bonneville Speed Trials

The 2020 Bonneville Motorcycle Speed Trials (BMST) have been canceled, according to the American Motorcyclist Association (AMA) and the Fédération Internationale de Motocyclisme (FIM).

Originally scheduled to take place between August 29 to September 3, 2020, the event where motorcycle land speed records are regularly broken will not be poshing through this year.

Event organizer, Deliciate Promotions LTT, opted to cancel the event due to the challenges posed by the global spread of the coronavirus.

The Bonneville Motorcycle Speed Trials (BMST) is an annual motorcycle land speed racing event, held annually at Bonneville Speedway and the Bonneville Salt Flats in the US.

Motorcycle land speed record holder hopefuls regularly attend this activity where speed records are certified by the AMA US National land speed records and FIM Land speed world records governing bodies and made official. The event features motorcycles ranging from 50-cc to 3000-cc, as well as electric classes. The event attracts racers and teams from all over the US and around the world.

The event regularly attracts competitors due to the varying conditions at the salt flats, which may make or brake a land speed record attempt. This year’s conditions were looking very favorable and may have been conducive to new speed records being set.

Unfortunately, the large crowds this event may potentially draw poses a great risk of spreading the virus and likely goes against many travel and activity restrictions in the US.

“We will be working hard for next year’s event, and we will stay connected along the way to ensure that we all get our prescribed dose of salt to carry us forward up to and through 2021,” said Delvene Reber of the BMST in an official statement. “We may not be able to race this year, but we still have our racing family.”

The BMST will resume on August 28 - September 2, 2021.