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The MotoGP Indian Grand Prix has been in the news for the last couple of weeks with a cloud of doubt over the hosting of the second edition of the race in September.
Speculation became rife when Dorna CEO Carmelo Ezpeleta said that a decision on India will be taken soon. “India is one of the things to look at. In these days it will be decided. We can’t take long; next week or the following week at most,” said Ezpeleta during a presentation ahead of this weekend’s Catalan GP.
But Fairstreet Sports, promoters of the race in India, have allayed all fears, saying the race is very much on. “The race is on. We are grateful to the Uttar Pradesh government for the support they have shown us,” Fairstreet Sports COO Pushkar Nath Srivastava said.
Problems arose after there was a delay in the fulfillment of the financial obligations on part of the promoters pertaining to last year’s race. The Uttar Pradesh government stepped in with its investment wing – Invest UP – coming on board as partners in February-March.
The hosting rights fee, paid by promoters to Dorna, will now be borne by both Fairstreet Sports and Invest UP.
“All the formalities, paperwork, bringing the authorities and administration together on this takes time. There is due diligence too. Also, the elections are taking place which has also led to a slight delay. We are in regular touch with Dorna and have assured them that all the contractual obligations will be met in week or so,” said Srivastava.
The organisers are confident the issues will be resolved immediately after the elections, the counting day for which is June 4. A tripartite pact has been signed between Dorna, Fairstreet and Invest UP which says that funds for the race will be raised together by the latter two.
It was also confirmed that the sale of tickets for the September 20-22 event in Greater Noida will commence on June 14, confirming that the race will go ahead. Significantly, the second edition of the Grand Prix will have single day tickets in addition to season passes. The debut race in 2023, won by Marco Bezzecchi, only had season passes. A whole lot of fan engagement activities are also being planned for the race.
Fairstreet and Dorna had signed a seven-year contract to hold the race at the Buddh International Circuit of which six races remain. India’s record at hosting international motorsport events isn’t great after Formula 1 left Indian shores after hosting only three of five races from 2011 to 2013. Formula E’s stay was even more short-lived with Hyderabad hosting only the debut race in 2023 before the E-Prix ran into political and financial hurdles.
The 2024 MotoGP calendar was supposed to have a record-breaking 22 races but was curtailed to 20 after the Argentina race was cancelled and Kazakhstan GP was postponed.
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