According to reports on Tuesday, this year’s Indian Grand Prix will not take place and instead, race promoters are looking to return to the MotoGP calendar in 2025. The Buddh International Circuit in Dankaur, India, made its MotoGP calendar debut last year, but a disagreement arose between race promoter Fairstreet Sports and Dorna. A dispute over the hosting fee for the MotoGP inaugural event, combined with the upcoming general elections in India on June 4, has made the presence of the race on the 2024 calendar uncertain. However, a solution has been found for the Indian GP to skip this year’s calendar and host the opening of the 2025 MotoGP season in March. Fairstreet Sports CEO Pushkar Nath Srivastava stated: “It was mutually decided to move the race to March next year. We are considering the first or second week of March.” The decision was made taking into account the unfavorable weather conditions from last September, which were challenging for the pilots and marshals.The Grand Prix last year was shortened due to extreme heat, with drivers facing difficulties in the hot conditions. Moving the event to open the 2025 season should alleviate these severe conditions with milder temperatures. This decision follows rumors earlier this month that the postponed race from Kazakhstan would replace the Indian GP. Kazakhstan was initially scheduled to debut last year, but was postponed to 2024 as the Sokol circuit was not ready to host the race. However, severe floods in the region in April further delayed the event. With the Indian GP and Dorna involved in a payment dispute, there were discussions about replacing the Dankaur-based race with the Kazakh event in September. Srivastava responded to these rumors, stating: “The race is very much on track. All contractual obligations will be fulfilled by June.” However, Tuesday’s development proves that Srivastava’s confidence was misplaced. However, the possible inclusion of the Indian GP at the beginning of next year’s schedule suggests that contractual obligations have been met or will be met. This opens up space for Kazakhstan to fill the slot set for September 20-22. However, it is understood that the infrastructure around the Sokol venue still needs to be completed.
