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MotoGP has signed a memorandum of understanding for the opportunity of racing in Saudi Arabia as their commercial rights holder Dorna said on Monday. Their statement about the MoU addressed the possibility of a future Saudi Arabian Grand Prix held on a newly constructed, multi-purpose circuit, without specifying where.
The MotoGP World Championship has an audience of over 800 million people from more than 200 countries around the world. Hence, the addition of Saudi Arabia to the calendar will see further expand the sport into the Middle East. Currently, Qatar is hosting the only round in the region.
MotoGP is now following up on the tracks of other motorsports that have added the Middle-eastern region to their calendar like the Formula 1 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix (since 2021), the Formula E Diriyah ePrix (since 2018), the world-renowned Dakar Rally (since 2020) and the revolutionary Extreme E series (since 2021).
Carmelo Ezpeleta, CEO of Dorna Sports talked about the partnership citing that they have seen a massive growth of fans in the Saudi region and also stated some numbers about how 80% of fans from the region want to see more races in their country.
"As the leading global championship for two-wheel circuit racing, we are thrilled at this opportunity for MotoGP to expand its reach within the Middle East by adding an annual Grand Prix in Saudi Arabia. The region is a key market for motorsport and the demand in the Kingdom for events of this kind is growing with research showing that 80% of Saudi fans wanting to see more in their country," he said.
He further promised that the Moto GP events in regions will bring a lot of excitement and grow the sport.
He stated: "In the past few years, Saudi Arabia has shown its ability to stage major global motorsports events to the highest standards. The signing of the Memorandum of Understanding codifies our shared intention to explore this opportunity further. We are confident that we will find an exciting and welcoming new home in the Kingdom and we look forward to further collaboration with the Saudi Motorsport Company to deliver on this joint ambition together."