Singapore to host 2026 MotoGP season launch

MotoGP will kick off the 2026 season with a special launch event in Singapore, Autosport has learned.

Dorna, together with all 11 teams, has selected the Asian city-state as the new host for the series’ collective season launch.

Singapore was chosen over Kuala Lumpur and Melbourne, the other two venues that were being considered for the presentation.

It will take over the mantle from Thailand's capital Bangkok, which staged the inaugural global launch earlier this year with great success. However, the presentation will take place over two days, spanning 6-7 February.

The decision to choose Singapore as the launch venue has also shaped the pre-season testing calendar, with the first official test now set to take place on 2-4 February at the Sepang International Circuit in Malaysia. This will be preceded by the shakedown test for test riders and rookies at the same track.

Once those three days of testing have been completed, some team trucks will make the four-hour road trip to Singapore, setting up on 5 February ahead of the showcase the next day.

Johann Zarco, Team LCR Honda

Photo by: Dorna

The venue and timing of the second pre-season test remain undecided. Options include heading straight to Buriram — which hosts the season opener on 1 March — right after the launch or about 10 days later.

While the latter scenario would complicate bike updates before round one, it would ease the financial pressure on teams.

The February schedule was finalised in meetings held in Barcelona. From a logistics standpoint, Singapore is less practical than Kuala Lumpur, but far easier than Melbourne, which was strongly considered yet would have stretched teams' resources to the limit.

This will also be the first launch under Liberty Media, which recently acquired Dorna. Liberty, the commercial rights holder of Formula 1, staged a high-profile collective F1 presentation in London this year, though teams will revert to individual launches in 2026.