Singapore to host launch event for the 2026 MotoGP season

MotoGP will have a special launch event in Singapore for its 2026 season. The country will take over from Bangkok, the location for the very first global launch earlier this year. For the next season, the event will last two days, from February 6 to 7, 2026. 

The organisers of the event, Dorna, and all 11 teams that will participate in the event chose Singapore as the new venue for the season launch. It won against other cities like Kuala Lumpur and Melbourne. 

Having the city-state as the venue, the pre-season testing schedule has also changed, with the first official test now set for Feb 2-4 at the Sepang International Circuit in Malaysia. Furthermore, there will be a Shakedown test for rookies and test riders at the same track before the official test. After the needed tests, teams may travel by road from Malaysia to Singapore to prepare for the launch event. The date and place for the second preseason test have not yet been decided.

After Singapore, the teams may go straight to Buriram— where the first race is on March 1— exactly after the launch or not more than 10 days later. Waiting longer would make bike updates harder before the first race; however, this would save money for smaller teams. 

Singapore was the top pick because it is easier than Melbourne, which would have been demanding for the teams. This will also be the first season launch under Liberty Media—which recently bought Dorna—and also runs Formula 1 and held a huge F1 launch event this year. Unlike MotoGP, F1 will go back to individual team launches in 2026.

Learn more about the MotoGP 2025 season calendar of races here.

In similar news, Formula 1 will not hold a group season launch event for 2026. 

This year, F1 had a special launch in London where all teams showed their new car designs to celebrate the championship’s 75th anniversary. This event became popular, and it gained over seven million viewers across different platforms.

However, the commercial rights owner, FOM, decided not to repeat the same spectacle next year. The management felt the special launch was mainly for the anniversary, and it doesn’t make sense to do it every year. More so, with big rule changes in 2026 and new cars, teams will be busy with preseason testing, and having a big launch would be a distraction. 

Despite this, FOM is still thinking about bringing the event back in the future, and possibly in different cities instead of London.