– The Lusail International Circuit in Qatar was originally scheduled to host the fourth race weekend of the 2026 MotoGP season on the weekend of April 12. However, due to the military conflict that broke out in the Middle East in the spring, the organizers of the Motorcycle World Championship have decided to postpone the Qatar Grand Prix to the weekend of November 8.
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Currently, Qatar is scheduled as the third-to-last race weekend of the ongoing MotoGP season, before returning to Europe to hold the Portuguese Grand Prix (November 22) and a week later the season finale, the Valencia Grand Prix (November 29) (MotoGP calendar 2026).
At the MotoGP Sports Entertainment Group (MotoGP SEG), there is still hope to hold the race in Lusail. At the same time, possible alternatives are being examined. Apart from the challenges of hosting a sporting event in a location with obvious security concerns, some companies involved in the Motorcycle World Championship – namely suppliers – have internal policies that prohibit sending employees to areas considered high-risk.
When directly asked about the alternatives being considered for Qatar, MotoGP Sporting Director Carlos Ezpeleta does not rule out that the racing series might take a similar path as Formula 1 does with its Bahrain Grand Prix. That means the possibility of holding this year’s motorcycle Grand Prix of Qatar in another country is not excluded by the MotoGP promoter.
“Since we belong to the same family as Formula 1, namely Liberty Media, this topic naturally concerns us,” says Ezpeleta in an interview for Autosport, a sister platform of Motorsport-Total.com in the Motorsport Network. “However, the situation is different. We have only one race in the Middle East. From a commercial perspective, a season with 21 instead of 22 races is clearly sufficient.”
The political conflict in the Persian Gulf, which broke out at the end of February between the United States and Iran, has direct effects on this year’s sports calendar and has already caused several racing series to cancel or postpone events.
Formula 1 initially canceled the Bahrain and Saudi Arabia Grands Prix planned for April. The World Endurance Championship (WEC) initially postponed its Qatar race from March to October, before canceling it completely – just like the Bahrain race planned for November.
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Formula 1 announced a few weeks ago that the Bahrain Grand Prix will be held on the weekend of October 4, but not in Sakhir, rather in Sepang, Malaysia. Liberty Media is currently monitoring developments in the Middle East before deciding how to proceed regarding the Formula 1 Grands Prix in Qatar (November 29) and Abu Dhabi (December 6).
The final decision on how to handle the motorcycle Grand Prix of Qatar is extremely complex in every respect. Logistically, it is anything but easy to find a race track on such short notice that on the one hand meets the required safety standards and on the other hand is even available. It must also be considered that the entire equipment for the Portuguese Grand Prix in Portimao must be on site just two weeks later.
“At this time of year, most European race tracks are already booked,” says Ezpeleta in the interview, emphasizing that his priority remains to travel to Qatar in November. “Honestly, I hope we can race. That is what we are focusing on right now.”
The MotoGP SEG is giving itself until the end of August to make a decision to have enough leeway for both options. Depending on the approach and the development of the situation in the Persian Gulf, the plan for the early phase of the upcoming MotoGP season might also have to be changed.
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It is certain that the MotoGP season opener 2027 will take place on March 7 in Buriram (Thailand). Currently, everything seems to indicate that the second season stop will be held a week later in Lusail (Qatar). However, the Middle East conflict could force a change to this planned scenario for the 2027 MotoGP calendar.
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