JAPAN RETURNS TO THE 2026 MOTOGP CALENDAR ON 2-4 OCTOBER AFTER AUSTRIA

The Austrian Grand Prix has set up the next stretch of the 2026 MotoGP calendar, with a long gap before riders return to action in Japan. After the 15th round of the season at the Red Bull Ring—following a back-to-back with the San Marino Grand Prix—the championship now moves away from Europe and into the Asian and Australian swing.

The next race is the Japanese Grand Prix at Motegi, scheduled for 2–4 October. The event week begins on Friday 2 October and runs through Sunday 4 October, with the weekend’s key sessions listed in local timing for viewers in the UK: Friday features FP1 from 2:45am BST to 3:30am BST and practice from 7:00am BST to 8:00am BST. Saturday includes FP2 from 2:10am BST to 2:40am BST, Q1 from 2:50am BST to 3:05am BST, Q2 from 3:15am BST to 3:30am BST, and the sprint at 7:00am BST. On Sunday, warm-up runs from 1:40am BST to 1:50am BST, followed by the race at 6:00am BST.

Austria itself delivered a major milestone for Pedro Acosta. After crashing out of the lead of the sprint on Saturday, Acosta went on to claim his maiden MotoGP grand prix victory on Sunday for KTM on home soil. He finished ahead of the Aprilia duo of Jorge Martin and Marco Bezzecchi, with Bezzecchi extending his championship advantage to 12 points over Ducati’s Marc Marquez. Marquez, meanwhile, struggled to fifth in the race and crossed the line more than seven seconds behind the winner.

With the European portion of the calendar concluded for now, the remainder of the 2026 season continues across the globe. After Japan, the schedule continues with the Indonesian Grand Prix at Mandalika from 9–11 October, the Australian Grand Prix at Phillip Island from 23–25 October, and the Malaysian Grand Prix at Sepang from 30 October to 1 November. The run then heads to Qatar at Lusail from 6–8 November, followed by Portugal at Portimao from 20–22 November, before the season closes at Valencia’s Ricardo Tormo circuit from 27–29 November.