By Dean AdamsThis just in from Dorna:
Dates for the first GP and for pre-season testing for 2024 can now be revealed
Thursday, 27 April 2023
The dates for the 2024 Qatar Grand Prix can now be announced! The 8th to the 10th of March 2024 is the provisional date to be proposed to the FIM as MotoGP™ prepares to return to Qatar’s spectacular floodlights for the first event of the season.
Before an exception in 2023 due to extensive renovation to the circuit facilities, Qatar had opened the Championship for the past 16 seasons consecutively and will now do so once again. The 2023 Qatar Grand Prix will be held on the 19th of November, for the penultimate round of the year, before MotoGP™ is set to return less than four months later for the 2024 opener.
Testing for 2024 will begin as soon as November as we get our very first taste of next year’s grid in a one-day test just after the 2023 season finale. The Circuit Ricardo Tormo in Valencia, as the host for the final round of the season, will stage this one-day test on Tuesday the 28th of November 2023.
The pre-season itself will start in February with the Shakedown Test and Official Test at Sepang International Circuit:
SEPANG
Shakedown Test: Thursday 1st – Saturday 3rd of February (for test riders and rookies only)
Official Test: Tuesday 6th – Thursday 8th of February
Qatar will host the second and final test later the same month:
QATAR
Official Test: Monday 19th – Tuesday 20th of February
There will also be three days of in-season testing during 2024, which marks an increase of one day compared to 2023. The venues for the in-season tests will be confirmed in due course.
