Reports coming out of Thailand suggest that the Chang International Circuit in Buriram, which hosted the opening round of the 2025 MotoGP season and is set to repeat that in 2026, may lose its spot on the MotoGP calendar from 2027 onwards.
Newin Chidchob, president of the Chang International Circuit, posted on his Facebook page that he had been informed by the Sports Authority of Thailand (SAT) that the Thai government would not extend the contract they have with Dorna to host a round of MotoGP.
However, SAT governor Dr Kongsak Yodmanee told Thai newspaper The Nation that they were still in contract negotiations with Dorna Sports S.L. over a possible contract extension, and that no decision had been made.
Newin claimed that the Thai government was dropping MotoGP to pursue the aim of bringing F1 to the country. He expressed concerns over the potential cost of hosting F1, asking whether the revenue generated would balance the additional cost.
The complaints by Newin Chidchob, president of the Buriram track, appear to be aimed at ensuring that MotoGP remains at the Chang International Circuit, which is five and a half hours from the Thai capital Bangkok. Though the circuit is FIA grade 1 certified, and therefore homologated for an F1 race, the plans for an F1 race in Thailand focus on holding the race in or near Bangkok. If that happened, then Buriram would lose MotoGP with nothing to replace it. For the Chang International Circuit, like most racetracks that host MotoGP but not F1, the MotoGP race is most likely their biggest source of revenue.
It is clear that the economic impact of the Buriram MotoGP round is significant. Nearly 100,000 fans attended on Sunday, and over the four days of the event, the total number of people passing through the gates was officially 224,634 (though obviously, that was mostly the same people attending for either one, two, or more days, and being counted multiple times).
According to data posted by Newin Chidchob, the 2025 Buriram MotoGP round generated 5.043 billion baht (€141 million) over the period it is running. And again, according to Newin, to ensure the MotoGP round could continue, the government would only have to contribute 500 million baht (€14 million), with private companies coughing up 300 million baht (€8.4 million).
That is clearly a significant return on investment, though the numbers are surprising. Last year, the Motorland Aragon Circuit published a report on the economic impact of the circuit, and the Aragon round of MotoGP. The circuit generated around €47 million in economic activity in the surrounding region, with the MotoGP race responsible for €12 million in direct economic activity and €10.6 million in indirect activity. Aragon pays around €8.2 million to host a MotoGP round.
Attendance at Aragon is much smaller than at Buriram. Just under 56,000 fans turned up to watch the Grand Prix on Sunday at Aragon last September, with attendance over the entire weekend 107,421. That is under half of the number at Buriram.
While on the face of it, the economic impact of the Buriram MotoGP round may seem high, it is clearly a significant source of economic activity for the region, which generates jobs, around 7,000 according to the Sports Authority Thailand. So it is clear that losing MotoGP would be a blow for the area.
From the outside, this looks like a power struggle for the future of the MotoGP round. With negotiations in full swing, Chang International Circuit boss Newin Chidchob is clearly trying to up the pressure on both the Thai goverment and on Dorna, to reach a deal to extend the contract. Newin Chidchob appears to be trying to persuade the government to at least keep the MotoGP round, even if they decide to host a round of F1 from 2027 as well.
Whether the Thai round of MotoGP at Buriram will continue after 2026 is yet to be decided. There is still plenty of negotiating to be done yet.
