15-19 – GP of Thailand – The Grand Prix of Thailand will be the 19th race of the MotoGP 2018 season –

The Grand Prix of Thailand will be the 19th race of the MotoGP 2018 season

15-19 - GP of Thailand - The Grand Prix of Thailand will be the 19th race of the MotoGP 2018 season -

Dorna Sports, promoter of the Moto Grands Prix, officially confirms the next signing of the Grand Prix of Thailand with the Chang International Circuit in Buriram. From 2018, the GP of Thailand will bring the number of races to 19 and the milestone of 20 should be reached in 2019 with the GP of Finland.

MNC’s little finger was – once again – well informed: the MotoGP 2018 calendar will be well extended with a 19th Grand Prix placed in Thailand on the Chang International Circuit in Buriram, where since 2015 races of the championship of the Superbike world also managed by Dorna.

This Grand Prix of Thailand integrates the MotoGP programming for a minimum period of three years, that is to say from 2018 to 2020, according to the terms of the contract to be signed this Thursday in Bangkok.. 

  • MNC of May 20, 2015 
  • MNC of August 3, 2017 : 

As explained above, this GP of Thailand will most likely take place during the traditional tour of the Pacific, during which the Grands Prix of Japan, Malaysia and Australia are followed in October. This distant and expensive trip overseas would therefore now be profitable over four meetings instead of three, while increasing the influence of MotoGP in Asia.. 

15-19 - GP of Thailand - The Grand Prix of Thailand will be the 19th race of the MotoGP 2018 season -

The announcement of this Grand Prix of Thailand, unofficially known for several weeks, also follows that of. With these two new destinations, the MotoGP calendar will revolve around 20 races within two years – in accordance with the plan drawn up by Dorna in 2015 – unless one of the current circuits leaves the program, which according to our information does not is not on the agenda.

Rossi "not very happy" to ride in Buriram…

Asked about the prospect of competing in two more races per season, MotoGP riders expressed mixed opinions, between curiosity to go and discover new tracks and concerns at the idea of ​​adding race weekends to an already very busy between the offseason tests, the Grands Prix and the tests carried out during the year…

Some, like Jonas Folger at Tech3, say they are delighted to have the opportunity to compete in more races, recalling – and rightly so – that the raison d’être of a driver is to drive as often as possible. Same story for Maverick Viñales at Yamaha, who believes that it will be "good for the show, with more points at stake", even if it already seems difficult to him to remain "at 100%" for a whole season of Greats Price…

15-19 - GP of Thailand - The Grand Prix of Thailand will be the 19th race of the MotoGP 2018 season -

Others, like Valentino Rossi or Marc Marquez, think that 20 races per year would be the maximum and hope that the new circuits will meet MotoGP standards well … The Doctor does not hide his lack of enthusiasm in the race. idea of ​​running on the Buriram circuit !

"The track is not interesting, it’s very boring, there aren’t a lot of corners, just long straights," remarked the No.46 in June. "I think it’s not the best place to go," he said, recalling that the tour is far from Bangkok (around 400 km), which involves long transfers by car from the airport..

"In addition, the location of the circuit is very bad, it is far from everything. So I’m not very happy to go to Thailand, sincerely, at least not on this track", concluded the Yamaha official dryly, who had visited Buriram two years earlier as part of a promotional operation for his employer. 

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