Indian MotoGP Promoter Responds to Cancellation Rumours
Rumours of the Indian MotoGP race being cancelled began earlier this week, prompting the event's promoter to speak out on the matter
Organisers of the Indian MotoGP race at the Buddh International Circuit have denied that the 2024 edition of the race is at risk.
The reason behind the rumoured cancellation was outstanding payments that the race promoter, Fairstreet Sports, was yet to make to Dorna Sports, the rights holder to MotoGP.
Crash.net reports that it was told that the pending payments will be made once the Model Code of Conduct - an Indian regulation which, among other things, restricts the spending of public money around election periods - has been lifted on 4 June. In the case of the Indian Grand Prix, the public money comes from the government of Uttar Pradesh, the region of the country in which the Buddh International Circuit is located.
The original rumours, which said that the Indian GP would be replaced on the same 20-22 September date by the recently postponed Kazakhstan Grand Prix, were reported on by Motorsport.com earlier this week, who said that the deadline for the payments to be made is 20 May.
Nonetheless, Fairstreet Sports CEO Pushkar Nath Srivastava told The Times of India on 15 May that the race is still going ahead. “The race is very much on,” he said. “These are just rumours floating around. All of the contractual obligations will be met in June.”
Dorna signed a seven-year contract with Fairstreet Sports in 2022 to run the Indian Grand Prix at the Buddh International Circuit from 2023 until 2030. The first edition, run last September, was won by Marco Bezzecchi, and the Buddh circuit was popular among the riders for its flowing and undulating layout.
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