India plans future MotoGP at Buddh International Circuit
But while the Saudi project involves the creation of a new track, the Buddh International Circuit, outside New Delhi, which hosted an F1 Grand Prix from 2011-2013, is the proposed venue for the MotoGP event.
Dorna CEO Carmelo Ezpeleta recently visited India to meet with authorities and potential event promoter Fairstreet Sports.
"India is a huge country and market, and an especially important one for the two-wheeled industry and MotoGP as a sport,” Ezpeleta said.
“The Championship has a huge fan base there and being able to hold a MotoGP event in India would be both an incredible spectacle for our fans [and] at the same time as allowing us to continue to grow the sport in the region, which is hugely important for all our partners and the manufacturers, in particular given the hundreds of millions of two-wheeled vehicles on its roads.
“We would love to be able to see this project through and bring these incredible MotoGP bikes to race in front of the Indian fans. Racing in India would be a reflection of our commitment to open the doors to the sport as widely as we can, and would be and an important achievement for the Championship."
Union Sports Minister Shri Anurag Thakur added: “India could potentially be one of MotoGP’s biggest markets in terms of viewership as well as revenue.”
The provisional 2023 MotoGP calendar is yet to be officially announced but is expected to contain the same events as this season, plus a possible surprise event in Kazakhstan.
The addition of new future venues might not necessarily result in a larger calendar since some Spanish circuits - Valencia, Catalunya and Aragon - have already agreed to alternate with other tracks on the Iberian peninsula, rather than hosting one event per season.
