Qatar Grand Prix Opens 2021 MotoGP Season

Date posted on March 24, 2021

After months of waiting, MotoGP is finally back this weekend. The 2021 MotoGP, Moto2 and Moto3 World Championships all fire into life under the lights of Losail at the Barwa Grand Prix of Qatar.

On Thursday, all three grids will come together for the 2021 Class Photos, with everything available to watch LIVE on motogp.com. Following that, World Champion Joan Mir (Team Suzuki Ecstar) will be joined by Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP’s Fabio Quartararo, Petronas Yamaha SRT’s Valentino Rossi, Ducati Lenovo Team’s Jack Miller, Repsol Honda’s Pol Espargaro and Aprilia Racing Team Gresini’s Aleix Espargaro for the first Press Conference of 2021 at 17:00 local time in Qatar.

It gets underway on Friday, with the Moto3 class offering the first bit of track action at 13:50 before the Moto2 riders head out for FP1 at 14:45. Then, at 15:40 local time in Losail (GMT+3), the stars of the premier class will roll out of pitlane for the very first time in 2021. The day is rounded off by the MotoGP grid later on Friday with FP2 starting at 20:00 local time.

We’ll find out who’s in and who’s out of Q2 for the first time this year from 13:50 on Saturday afternoon with Moto3 kicking us off, followed by Moto2 and then MotoGP at 15:15 local time. The first grids of 2021 will be set later on Saturday as the sun begins to set in Qatar. The lightweight class start proceedings at 17:30, the intermediate class fight for pole at 18:25 before the first premier class pole position of the year will be decided from 20:00 local time.

After all of that, it’s time for race day. Here are the times you need to take note of for the opening races of 2021. And remember, the clocks change from Saturday to Sunday meaning your main event start time will be an hour later across Europe and the UK (ie. MotoGP™ qualifying starts at 18:00 across Europe on Saturday but the race will be an hour later, at 19:00, across Europe on Sunday).

Moto3™ is lights out at 17:00 local time. Moto2™ starts at 18:20 local time. And, finally, 22 laps of frantic MotoGP™ action gets underway at 20:00 local time.