Moto GP to debut in Thailand next year

[Jonathan Fairfield]

Dorna sport adds Buriram Circuit race to 2018 calendar

 

The Sports Authority of Thailand (SAT) and Dorna Sports, the owner and promoter of motorcycling racing series MotoGP, have confirmed that Thailand will host a MotoGP race next year. 

 

According to the SAT, the 2018 Thai MotoGP race weekend will be held at the Buriram Circuit from 5th to 7th October. However, the calendar dates have not been officially confirmed by MotoGP or Dorna Sports.

 

Full story: http://www.sportspromedia.com/news/motogp-set-for-thailand-debut

[Jai Dee]

I can't help but wonder if this is the racing circuit that was the brainchild of Newin Chichob (the former TRT very influential politician)?

 

It was a track supposedly designed by F1 track designer Herman Tilke if I remember correctly.

[properjob]

It is the Buriram circuit that is owned by the Chang beer magnate. It has already hosted World Superbikes for the last two or three years. It's good to see recent talk of the MotoGP series coming to Thailand proven correct. 

[Can samui]

Yippee!! Road trip!


Sent from my iPad using Thaivisa Connect

[macknife]

Good stuff.

[jaiyen]

It will be very inconvenient for all the teams, the supporters and transporters as its a good 6 hour drive to get there. What about catering ?  Bring it hundreds of street vendors !!  What about hotels ?  And the traffic will be gridlock in the area. Will be chaos.  But we will definitely be going !! 

[guzzi850m2]

Yes it is Khun Newin that is behind all this.

 

I was up for the first super-bike race at the Buriram circuit and it was awesome, the track is extremely well laid out so if you are at the grandstand, you can see large parts of the circuit. 

 

I heard same Khun Newin owns a large plot of land out at Jomtien (Pattaya) area and planning of building a grand stadium there at some stage.

 

@jaiyen, no problems but book hotel well in advance, last time we had to live app 50km south of Buriram as all the hotels were fully booked.

Edited June 8, 2017 by guzzi850m2

[morocco]

11 minutes ago, jaiyen said:

It will be very inconvenient for all the teams, the supporters and transporters as its a good 6 hour drive to get there. What about catering ?  Bring it hundreds of street vendors !!  What about hotels ?  And the traffic will be gridlock in the area. Will be chaos.  But we will definitely be going !! 

Will they also need permits and guides like the rest of us foriegner bikers?

[Richard-BKK]

The circuit is excellent and I’m sure it will be an good addition to the MotoGP championship. But the facilities that should support the circuit in Buriram are not there… Maybe the Sport and Tourist Minister thinks that Valentino Rossi, the Highest-Paid Athletes Over The Past Decade, will sleep in a camper/trailer…

 

Maybe they can make a landing strip for him....

 

 

Edited June 8, 2017 by Richard-BKK

[clifric]

Perhaps the MotoGP teams should be warned about what happened to their peers on the Superbike circuit when they visited Buri Ram recently; all their spare tyres (I'm English) were impounded at Thai Customs for some reason I never established but suffice it to say the top riders at that event were Thai

 

[thaiguzzi]

15 hours ago, properjob said:

It is the Buriram circuit that is owned by the Chang beer magnate. It has already hosted World Superbikes for the last two or three years. It's good to see recent talk of the MotoGP series coming to Thailand proven correct. 

# Newin is not a Chang beer magnate...

# But he is the extremely popular (in Buriram) godfather of Buriram Province.

# Fingers crossed, if this happens it will be good for all concerned.

[Peter Pattaya]

2 hours ago, Richard-BKK said:

The circuit is excellent and I’m sure it will be an good addition to the MotoGP championship. But the facilities that should support the circuit in Buriram are not there… Maybe the Sport and Tourist Minister thinks that Valentino Rossi, the Highest-Paid Athletes Over The Past Decade, will sleep in a camper/trailer…

 

Maybe they can make a landing strip for him....

 

 

Is that his personal plane out of curiosity? 

[Techno Viking]

16 hours ago, properjob said:

It is the Buriram circuit that is owned by the Chang beer magnate. It has already hosted World Superbikes for the last two or three years. It's good to see recent talk of the MotoGP series coming to Thailand proven correct. 

Chang is the corporate sponsor, not owner.

[VocalNeal]

2 hours ago, guzzi850m2 said:

I was up for the first super-bike race at the Buriram circuit and it was awesome, the track is extremely well laid out so if you are at the grandstand, you can see large parts of the circuit. 

So was I. But subsequently the friendliness wore off? No paddock passes, hotels getting snotty, track tickets before the event like unobtanium. I didn't go to the last one.

 

If beer is still 40B a can it can still be fun? 

[Richard-BKK]

1 hour ago, clifric said:

Perhaps the MotoGP teams should be warned about what happened to their peers on the Superbike circuit when they visited Buri Ram recently; all their spare tyres (I'm English) were impounded at Thai Customs for some reason I never established but suffice it to say the top riders at that event were Thai

 

It's in Thailand illegal to import used motorcycle tires...

[electric]

Great news for Thailand, and terrific news for Buriram in particular.

 

I live 3km from the Buriram Chang International Race Circuit, and have attended various events there, including the World Super Bike meetings.

 

The facilities for spectators and competitors are excellent, as you would expect for a brand new circuit.

 

To date, World Super Bikes has been the biggest event staged at this circuit. MotoGP will be even bigger I suppose.

 

I'm guessing that the date has not been officially confirmed yet, as the organisers will be busy locking in accommodation and other logistical setups, before letting the public know. Pretty standard practice for any big event.

 

Accommodation will certainly be fully booked, so this should be the first priority for intending spectators. Family living next door to me always vacate their home for 4 nights (Wed-Sat) on big race meetings, and rent it out for 3000 baht per night. (Can sleep up to 8 people, so not a bad deal really.) Good little earner for the family.

 

Satuek Airport is 35km north of Buriram. It's big enough for Air Asia and Nok Air jet aircraft, so that will certainly be useful.

 

Highway is now dual 4 lane carriageway all the way into Mueang Buriram if coming from BKK direction.

 

An event like this brings a lot of cash into a local economy .... food vendors, accommodation providers, entertainment venues, hire cars, etc etc. .... and of course the priceless value of a global television audience of several hundred million.

 

Bring it on !!

 

 

[elliss]

22 minutes ago, Techno Viking said:

Chang is the corporate sponsor, not owner.

           Chang ladies  and super bikes,  what a perfect combo .

Edited June 8, 2017 by elliss

[guzzi850m2]

On 6/7/2017 at 8:24 PM, VocalNeal said:

So was I. But subsequently the friendliness wore off? No paddock passes, hotels getting snotty, track tickets before the event like unobtanium. I didn't go to the last one.

 

If beer is still 40B a can it can still be fun? 

Really? Well that was not my impression, very friendly all around.

 

My friend bought pit passes for himself & me on race-day, 1000 baht a pop, well worth it.

 

Let me see if I can dig some photos out from the event and post them.

[guzzi850m2]

SBK 2015:

 

 

 

 

[nahkit]

25 minutes ago, VocalNeal said:

So was I. But subsequently the friendliness wore off? No paddock passes, hotels getting snotty, track tickets before the event like unobtanium. I didn't go to the last one.

 

If beer is still 40B a can it can still be fun? 

I got my track tickets for the last World Superbike event from 7-11, I'd hardly call that "unobtanium".

 

I got a reduced price for buying tickets for both days and they threw in a paddock pass for the second day for free.

 

Looks like you should have gone to the the last one.

 

I also went to the one before that and had absolutely no trouble getting my tickets (that time it was at the Tesco Lotus desk) and again they offered discounts.

[nahkit]

2 hours ago, clifric said:

Perhaps the MotoGP teams should be warned about what happened to their peers on the Superbike circuit when they visited Buri Ram recently; all their spare tyres (I'm English) were impounded at Thai Customs for some reason I never established but suffice it to say the top riders at that event were Thai

 

There wasn't a single Thai racer even competing in either of the Superbike races.

 

The tyres that were impounded were for the grid position superpole only, there was no problem with the actual race tyres.

Edited June 8, 2017 by nahkit

[Techno Viking]

24 minutes ago, nahkit said:

There wasn't a single Thai racer even competing in either of the Superbike races.

 

The tyres that were impounded were for the grid position superpole only, there was no problem with the actual race tyres.

Maybe clifric is thinking of 2016 where there was 1 Thai rider who came last.

Edited June 8, 2017 by Techno Viking

[natway09]

Good news for Thailand.

Problem No 1 ,,, where do 80,000 peoplw stay ?

[Techno Viking]

3 minutes ago, natway09 said:

Good news for Thailand.

Problem No 1 ,,, where do 80,000 peoplw stay ?

Stay in BKK. 2500bath return flight everyday.

[electric]

17 minutes ago, natway09 said:

Good news for Thailand.

Problem No 1 ,,, where do 80,000 peoplw stay ?

 

There are bucket loads of near empty perfectly acceptable resorts in Mueang Buriram, and within 1 hour drive of the racetrack. Korat is also less than 2 hour drive.

 

The big percentage of these resorts are not shown on the big booking sites like Agoda etc. They are small 20-30 room, family owned and run resorts. Locals know about them, but visitors will never find them.

 

It would be a very smart move for the Amphur to encourage all these resorts to register their details on a central, publically viewable online site. Advertising for the MotoGP could then display a link to this central accommodation site.

 

Prepare for inevitable price-gouging too. It happens every time there's a big event at the racetrack or football stadium. But hey .... Buriram will not be Robinson Crusoe in that respect.

 

Buriram is not the quiet little country town it once was. There's been an astonishing amount of development here in the last 5-6 years. My post #16 may also be useful reading. Cheers.

[Muhendis]

In case you may have missed it......Take a look at this

http://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/world/backwater-to-boomtown-rural-thai-city-emerges-as-sporting-camelot/ar-BBCgR79

[Techno Viking]

40 minutes ago, Muhendis said:

In case you may have missed it......Take a look at this

http://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/world/backwater-to-boomtown-rural-thai-city-emerges-as-sporting-camelot/ar-BBCgR79

Without Newin's "washing machine" Buririam would be nothing.

[macknife]

2 minutes ago, Techno Viking said:

Without Newin's "washing machine" Buririam would be nothing.

If you're from Buriram, who cares how he got it!

They are all at it, at least he gives something back to the local community. I don't know any others in his position that do that.

I have been there a few times. the change in the last few years is amazing. the new race track and fooball stadium look great.

Not to mention the new hotels and malls etc going up.

[Dutchbike]

Indeed good news for Thailand and Buriram in particular, the article in post #26 pretty sums up what K Newin has done for this province and having lived nearly 7 years in Muang Buriram ( 40 km's from the city and track) I have seen many positive changes, the kind of tourism the various sport events attracts also has no negative effects on the city and I'm glad to see that Buriram has still kept his friendly and rural character and not changed into the sin city of the North East. 

Tips from other posters are correct and it's best the book a hotel way in advance.

Already looking forward to the MotoGP in 2018!!

 

[Richard-BKK]

17 minutes ago, Techno Viking said:

Without Newin's "washing machine" Buririam would be nothing.

I can think of a few very influential towns in the USA and other countries that are basically build with the help of criminal money.