Here is a wild turn of events from the paddock: according to The Race, the 2026 MotoGP riders held a secret meeting on Thursday evening at Phillip Island to vote on whether they were prepared to race in Qatar in a fortnight. Two thirds of the riders in attendance voted against racing at Lusail amid rising tensions in the Gulf region and an increase in government travel warnings.
This whole mess started when hostilities between Iran, Israel, and the United States forced the event to move from early April to November. That same outbreak caused significant travel disruption as the paddock traveled home from the season-opener in Thailand in March. Despite a shaky truce since April, fears remain that the situation could shift around the US midterm elections, which happen to fall the week of the Qatar race. Recent warning signs include statements suggesting US president Donald Trump might be preparing for fresh military action, a warning from the Emir of Qatar telling citizens to prepare for fresh unrest, the US government evacuating dependents of embassy staff, and a third US aircraft carrier arriving in the Indian Ocean.
MotoGP bosses, meanwhile, have insisted the race will go ahead as planned, issuing fresh guidance to teams earlier this week to head from Sepang to Lusail early next month. "We are monitoring the situation closely," MotoGP deputy CEO Carlos Ezpeleta told the media at the last event in Indonesia, noting that safety is the top priority and that contingency plans exist. Back in August, however, paddock expectation was that the race would not happen at all due to logistics and insurance issues. A Japanese government warning to avoid all but essential travel to Qatar can void travel insurance and block corporate travel, which is a major problem for the series' factories. Other key nations have now issued warnings too, including the United States advising to 'reconsider travel', Spain suggesting to 'postpone your trip until further notice', France calling the situation in the region 'highly unstable', and Japan maintaining its 'avoid non-essential travel' stance.
Most of the grid kept quiet when asked about the situation ahead of the weekend at Phillip Island, simply stating they trusted series organizers to make the right call. But Alex Marquez broke ranks to speak at length with The Race. "Every day it changes, and every day it looks worse," he said. "The championship is saying to us that everything is under control, but I think that nobody has a situation like this under control, that is quite complex. I think from one day to another, things can change a lot, and I think it's not a decision that they need to take now. In the next days, they need to be realistic. For sure it is a lot of money on the deal, and Dorna wants everything. It's like that. But also with the health of everybody they need to take care as well, because many people will go there."
There is also the terrifying prospect of airspace closing for an extended period, stranding personnel and freight in Doha and destroying the final two races of the season in Portugal and Spain. Media presence is already taking a hit, as TNT Sports commentator Neil Hodgson announced on air during the UK broadcaster’s Moto3 coverage that TNT would broadcast from a London studio rather than on-site should the race go ahead.
