Sigh, another international motorsport event looks destined to not return to India. An online report suggests that the Indian round of the MotoGP 2024 season is likely to get cancelled, making it the third prolific motor racing series after F1 and Formula E to pull out of the country.
According to the report, the Bharat GP, which was slated to take place between September 20-22, is likely to face the axe as the promoters of the event, Fairstreet Sports, have failed to pay a lot of its vendors, primarily including MotoGP’s managing company: Dorna. The claimed deadline to clear these dues is May 20, which is likely to be missed.
Last year’s running had a few hiccups with riders and teams facing quite a bit of visa issues but one could chalk them down to inexperience of the managing committee to the ways of the sport. The event went off pretty smoothly and Dorna chief, Carmelo Ezpeleta, even lauded the Uttar Pradesh government for its efforts in bringing the sport to India.
However, this laidback approach and non-payment issues are far more serious and are likely going to result in the sport switching venues to Kazakhstan, which too has had its fair share of troubles so far. Sadly, if the MotoGP circus does give India a miss, it will be a big loss in terms of sporting revenue as well as a disheartening reality check that Indian enthusiasts will continue to be let down.
We have reached out to Fairstreet Sports for a comment on the same and we shall be sharing their side of the story once we get some clarity on the same.
