MOTEGI MOTOGP: 2026 RACE WEEKEND TIMES AND VIEWING OPTIONS

Motegi hosts round 16 of the 2026 MotoGP World Championship from 2–4 October, with the title contest and several riders’ recent form setting up a closely watched weekend.

Marc Marquez returns to the circuit where he secured the 2025 championship, now 12 points behind Jorge Martin. Martin beat him in both races at the Red Bull Ring, while the pair have opened a 42-point gap over Marco Bezzecchi, who is third in the standings. Pedro Acosta is another potential challenger: his maiden MotoGP victory in Austria lifted him to fourth. He has also shown speed at Motegi, leading there as a rookie and reaching the Sprint podium last year before a mistake ended his Grand Prix challenge.

Pecco Bagnaia arrives with a strong Motegi record after winning both races from pole last year. That weekend marked a rare high point in a difficult season: he scored in only two of the next ten races. Now ninth overall, Bagnaia’s only victory this year is a Sprint win at Brno, and he has not stood on a podium since June.

Track action begins Friday, 2 October, with MotoGP FP1 at 10:45am local time (2:45am UK) and Practice at 3:00pm (7:00am UK). Saturday’s schedule features FP2 at 10:10am (2:10am UK), qualifying at 10:50am (2:50am UK) and the Sprint at 3:00pm (7:00am UK). On Sunday, warm-up starts at 9:40am (1:40am UK), followed by the Grand Prix at 2:00pm (6:00am UK).

All sessions will be available live through MotoGP Video Pass. The full-season subscription costs €148.99 with Timing Pass or €139.99 without live data; a monthly pass is €29.99. In the UK, TNT Sports will show every session, with subscriptions through HBO Max starting at £27.99 per month, depending on the plan. Crash.net will provide live text coverage of MotoGP track sessions except warm-up.