Promoters of the MotopGP round in India on Tuesday insisted the race will go on as per schedule and dismissed an Autosport report that stated Kazakhstan will replace India on the 2024 calendar.
The leading motorsport website reported that the postponed Kazakhstan Grand Prix is to set replace India in the September slot as local promoters Fairstreets Sports have not paid their partial dues to MotoGP commercial rights holder Dorna.
PTI quotes Fairstreets Sports CEO Pushkar Nath Srivastava as having said the round, scheduled from September 20-22, remains part of the calendar and all contractual obligations will be met by 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.
“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 is an important stakeholder of the race and is set to play a more active role in staging of the second edition. However, with the model code of conduct currently enforced due to the general elections in India, the state government can only act on the matter after the results are declared on June 4.
A model code of conduct is a set of guidelines issued by Election Commission of India to regulate political parties and candidates during elections. The general elections are scheduled from April 19 to June 1.
Per PTI, Uttar Pradesh had provided a financial assistance of Rs 18 crore ($2.16 million) 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. That report has been submitted.
From the second season onwards, it has been learned that the state government will join Fairstreet Sports in organising the race. “It will be a tripartite agreement with UP government, Fairstreet Sports and Dorna,” a source revealed to the newswire.
The 2023 MotoGP round in India, won by Marco Bezzecchi, was the biggest motorsports event held in the country since the last Formula 1 race took place in 2013. Formula 1 could only last three years in India due to financial and taxation issues.
