MotoGP set to drop India from 2024 calendar; Kazakhstan to replace it

The championship made a much-anticipated visit to Buddh International Circuit on the outskirts of Delhi last year as part of its expansion in South Asia, with the race running smoothly despite several hiccups and visa issues in the run-up to the event.

However, in the last few months, there has been uncertainty about the second edition of the Indian Grand Prix, with local reports suggesting that promoter Fairstreet Sports hasn’t paid its dues to certain vendors, including Dorna.

Although the decision has been made, an official announcement will not come until after 20 May once the deadline for India’s payments has passed.

MotoGP will instead stage the inaugural Kazakhstan Grand Prix on 20-22 September, with the event having been postponed from its original June date due to flooding in the region.

MotoGP had previously not revealed a new date for the race at Sokol International Racetrack when announcing that the Kazakh event won’t be able to go ahead as scheduled at the beginning of May.

There was uncertainty over how MotoGP would be able to slot in the event on a packed 2024 schedule, with 11 rounds scheduled in the second half of the campaign from August to November.

But the departure of the Indian GP has conveniently opened up some space on the calendar, with Kazakhstan now set to mark the start of a triple-header that will also include races in Indonesia and Japan.

Barring any further changes, the 2024 MotoGP calendar will now comprise 20 rounds, the same total as 2023.

The series had originally revealed a record breaking 22-round calendar for 2024, but the cancellation of first the Argentina GP and now the India race has brought the number back down to 20.

Argentina was scrubbed from the schedule due to government spending cuts under the country’s new president.

Kazakhstan’s postponement from its original June slot has opened up a three-week gap between the Italian GP at Mugello and the Dutch TT at Assen, before a second three-week gap follows the German GP at the start of July.