Japan marks the start of the Asia-Pacific leg of the 2026 MotoGP season, with five races scheduled over the next six weeks.
Francesco Bagnaia won the 2025 Japanese GP aboard the factory Ducati, but the track has been completely resurfaced since then, making any comparisons to last year meaningless.
The stop-and-go nature of the track should continue to suit the Ducati, making Marc Marquez one of the favourites for the win.
KTM is also expected to perform well at Motegi after Pedro Acosta broke through at the Red Bull Ring to claim his maiden MotoGP win.
| Event | Date |
|---|---|
 Japanese GP |
|
| Japanese GP - FREE PRACTICE 1 | |
| Japanese GP - PRACTICE | |
| Japanese GP - FREE PRACTICE 2 | |
| Japanese GP - QUALIFYING 1 | |
| Japanese GP - QUALIFYING 2 | |
| Japanese GP - SPRINT | |
| Japanese GP - RACE | |
2026 MotoGP Japanese Grand Prix session timings
| SESSION | BST | CEST (UTC+2) | ET (UTC−4) | PT (UTC−7) | AEST (UTC+10) | JST (UTC+9) | IST (UTC+5:30) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Friday | |||||||
| FP1 | 02:45 | 03:45 | 21:45 | 18:45 | 11:45 | 10:45 | 07:15 |
| Practice | 07:00 | 08:00 | 02:00 | 23:00 | 16:00 | 15:00 | 11:30 |
| Saturday | |||||||
| FP2 | 02:10 | 03:10 | 21:10 | 18:10 | 11:10 | 10:10 | 06:40 |
| Qualifying | 02:50 | 03:50 | 21:50 | 18:50 | 11:50 | 10:50 | 07:20 |
| Sprint | 07:00 | 08:00 | 02:00 | 23:00 | 16:00 | 15:00 | 11:30 |
| Sunday | |||||||
| Race | 06:00 | 07:00 | 01:00 | 22:00 | 15:00 | 14:00 | 10:30 |
2026 MotoGP Japanese Grand Prix session timings in the UK and Portugal
Friday 2 October 2026
- Free Practice 1: 02:45 - 03:30 BST
- Practice: 07:00 - 08:00 BST
Saturday 3 October 2026
- Free Practice 2: 02:10 - 02:40 BST
- Qualifying: 02:50 - 03:30 BST
- Sprint: 07:00 BST
Sunday 4 October 2026
- Race: 06:00 BST
2026 MotoGP Japanese Grand Prix session timings in Europe
Friday 2 October 2026
- Free Practice 1: 03:45 - 04:30 CEST
- Practice: 08:00- 09:00 CEST
Saturday 3 October 2026
- Free Practice 2: 03:10 - 03:40 CEST
- Qualifying: 03:50 - 04:30 CEST
- Sprint: 08:00 CEST
Sunday 4 October 2026
- Race: 07:00 CEST
2026 MotoGP Japanese Grand Prix session timings in the US (Eastern Time)
Thursday 1 October 2026
- Free Practice 1: 21:45 - 22:30 ET
Friday 2 October 2026
- Practice: 02:00- 03:00 ET
- Free Practice 2: 21:10 - 21:40 ET
- Qualifying: 21:50 - 22:30 ET
Saturday 3 October 2026
- Sprint: 02:00 ET
Sunday 4 October 2026
- Race: 01:00 ET
2026 MotoGP Japanese Grand Prix session timings in the US (Pacific Time)
Thursday 1 October 2026
- Free Practice 1: 18:45 - 19:30 PT
- Practice: 23:00- 00:00 PT
Friday 2 October 2026
- Free Practice 2: 18:10 - 18:40 PT
- Qualifying: 18:50 - 19:30 PT
- Sprint: 23:00 PT
Saturday 3 October 2026
- Race: 00:00 PT
2026 MotoGP Japanese Grand Prix session timings in Australia
Friday 2 October 2026
- Free Practice 1: 11:45 - 12:30 AEST
- Practice: 16:00- 17:00 AEST
Saturday 3 October 2026
- Free Practice 2: 11:10 - 11:40 AEST
- Qualifying: 11:50 - 12:30 AEST
- Sprint: 16:00 AEST
Sunday 4 October 2026
- Race: 15:00 AEST
2026 MotoGP Japanese Grand Prix session timings in Japan
Friday 2 October 2026
- Free Practice 1: 10:45 - 11:30 JST
- Practice: 15:00 - 16:00 JST
Saturday 3 October 2026
- Free Practice 2: 10:10 - 11:40 JST
- Qualifying: 10:50 - 11:30 JST
- Sprint: 15:00 JST
Sunday 4 October 2026
- Race: 14:00 JST
2026 MotoGP Japanese Grand Prix session timings in India
Friday 2 October 2026
- Free Practice 1: 07:15 - 08:00 IST
- Practice: 11:30 - 12:30 IST
Saturday 3 October 2026
- Free Practice 2: 06:40 - 07:10 IST
- Qualifying: 07:20 - 08:00 IST
- Sprint: 11:30 IST
Sunday 4 October 2026
- Race: 10:30 IST
Can I stream the Japanese Grand Prix?
MotoGP has its own on-demand streaming service, offering live broadcast of practice, qualifying and the Sprint, as well as highlights. The MotoGP Video pass is available for an annual fee of 139.99 euros. Several local broadcasters also stream MotoGP races on their official websites.
