MotoGP has agreed a fresh contract directly with the state government of Uttar Pradesh to stage the Indian Grand Prix from 2025-27.
The new deal all but confirms that India will return to the MotoGP calendar next year after being dropped from this year’s schedule due to what was officially cited as “operational considerations” and unsuitable “weather conditions”.
The statement issued by MotoGP Dorna curiously made no mention of Fairstreet Sports, the private Noida-based organisation that was the promoter of the inaugural India event in 2023.
Fairstreet had organised the first edition of the race in 2023 with support from the government, but was criticised for several issues and its general lack of experience in conducting sporting events.
It is also widely understood that Fairstreet hadn’t paid the full hosting fee for the 2023 race until the summer of this year, which was the real reason for the cancellation of the 2024 event originally scheduled for 22 September.
In its defence, Fairstreet had cited the general elections in India as the chief reason behind the delays in payment to Dorna.
It remains unclear if the state government of Uttar Pradesh will hire a new organisation to promote the event as part of its new deal with Dorna.
“We’re very happy to announce this new agreement made directly with the government of Uttar Pradesh,” Carmelo Ezpeleta, CEO of Dorna Sports, said.
“The inaugural Indian Grand Prix was a key success and brought an enormous amount of value to both MotoGP and our host region of Uttar Pradesh, so it’s fantastic we are able to continue building that together into the future.
“India is an essential market for MotoGP, with a healthy, established audience for the racing, and one we know we can increase exponentially. There are also hundreds of millions of two-wheeled vehicles used across the country every day, making it vital for our manufacturers and for the sport itself thanks to MotoGP’s position as the pinnacle of two wheels.
“We’re very proud to work directly with the government of Uttar Pradesh to bring MotoGP back to India, and Uttar Pradesh and Buddh International Circuit, for the next three seasons.”
The new agreement between Dorna and the Uttar Pradesh government covers three seasons and will run until 2027. As part of the original contract signed prior to 2023, MotoGP was supposed to visit India for seven consecutive seasons.
India is expected to host the second round of the 2025 MotoGP season after the traditional opening event in Qatar.
The change from September to March will ease off concerns about harsh weather conditions that impacted a number of riders during the previous staging of the event at the Buddh International Circuit last year.
