"We Have to Wait" and See Whether MotoGP's Qatari Race Will Occur, Says Ezpeleta

MotoGP's head honcho, Carmello Ezpeleta, weighed in on whether the series' Middle East-based Qatari race will occur this season due to the ongoing war the US started with Iran, and how it's boiled over to other countries.

By: Jonathon Klein

Mar 6, at 8:01am ET

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The world is currently on fire and, as such, touches all things, all places. Of course, I'm talking about the US-Israel-led preemptive strikes on Iran.

Normally, RideApart wouldn't be getting into geopolitics—even though that's what my Master's degree is in—apart from how illegal tariffs affect the powersports industry. But given how many freakin' races are held in that particularly small section of the world, well, it was bound to cause us to wade into those murky depths.

And it seems that the first few dominoes from those late-night strikes have already begun to fall, as Iran's backed-into-a-corner regime has begun striking US allies within the region, along with others unsupportive of its cause. Iranian missiles and drones have been fired at Saudi Arabia, Iraq, the United Arab Emirates, and Qatar. There have also been Israeli strikes in neighboring countries, including Lebanon. Basically, the whole region is currently on fire or actively shooting at each other.

The violence, which I really hope ends soon, has led to a host of issues for race series' that operate in the area, with MotoGP now calling into question whether they'll have the opportunity to race in Qatar this season, with Carmello Ezpeleta, the series' boss, questioning it out loud. And honestly, I don't think they will.

"Is there a possibility of racing at another date? Don't worry. We always have a plan B," Ezpeleta told our siblings at Motorsport, adding, "We have to wait — I can’t say right now that we’re not going. We’ve been in talks with Qatar since what happened on Sunday, and we’ll make a decision. It’s difficult for us to go to Qatar on April 12, but I cannot say that we won’t go."

That, however, is just for the Qatari race, which is the fourth race on the calendar and the closest to today. A lot of the European races have been called into question, too, as getting around has become difficult due to closed airspaces, closed waterways—the Iranian military closed the Strait of Hormuz—and other necessities that are affected by the ongoing conflict. Iran struck a Saudi Aramco site, too, which is a big player in Formula 1's Liberty Media era, which also now owns MotoGP.

Again, dominoes are everywhere in a global supply chain and economy.

What do you think?

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Ezpeleta was then asked whether MotoGP would replace the Qatari race, "Going somewhere else? Certainly not. Fitting it into the calendar later on? We’re very good at making calendars. We’ll know something soon, obviously. We’re waiting to hear from them. There’s still time." That time, however, really depends on what happens in this conflict. Is this just a limited-strike operation, as the American politicians say? Or is this something that'll be more boots-on-the-ground and devolve into another Middle East quagmire?

My money, unfortunately, is on option two at the moment. But to put that bleak future aside for the moment, what all this means is that MotoGP likely won't race in Qatar this season, and that its logistics departments are going to have to work overtime to ensure everyone is stocked and ready to rock for the rest of its races abroad. Let's hope cooler heads prevail, though.