MotoGP: India race will take place, all contractual obligations to be met in June- Race promoters

Promoters of the MotoGP round in India on Tuesday insisted the September race will go on as per schedule and dismissed the report claiming that Kazakhstan will replace India on the 2024 calendar.

Motorsport website Autosport reported that Kazakhstan is to set replace India as local promoters Fairstreets Sports have not paid their partial dues to MotoGP right holders Dorna.

However, Fairstreets Sports CEO Pushkar Nath Srivastava said that the round, scheduled from September 20-22, remains part of the calendar and all contractual obligations will be met next month.

The inaugural MotoGP race in India was held in Greater Noida last year after Faristreet Sports and Dorna signed a seven-year agreement. The calendar published on the MotoGP website still has India listed on it.

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“The race is very much on. These are just rumours floating around. All of the contractual obligations will be met in June,” Srivastava told PTI.

Uttar Pradesh had provided a financial assistance of Rs 18 crore to Fairstreet Sports for the inaugural edition. In March, the government had asked local promoters for a detailed report on utilisation of funds provided for the event.

From the second season onwards, it has been learned that the state government will join Fairstreet Sports in organising the race.

The 2023 MotoGP round in India, won by Marco Bezzecchi, was the biggest motorsport event held in the country since the last Formula 1 race which took place in 2013. F1 could only last three years in India due to financial and taxation issues.