How Many Races Are In A MotoGP Season?

The current MotoGP™ calendar features 22 Grands Prix, with the main feature length MotoGP races taking place on Sunday afternoons. Each Grand Prix also features a Moto2™ and Moto3™ race on the Sunday, whilst on Saturday there is a MotoGP™ Sprint, which is a shorter race format approximately half the distance of a main MotoGP race.

In total, fans can watch the riders across the three main World Championship categories racing on 88 occasions throughout the season, when the Saturday MotoGP Sprint format and the Moto2™ and Moto3™ races are included in the tally.

MotoGP™ is the premier motorcycle racing championship and the number of Grand Prix races per season has increased significantly in just the last 25 years and even more significantly since the World Championship was founded in 1949.

There were just six Grands Prix in the first year of the World Championship in 1949 and that number had risen to 16 Grands Prix by 1999, before expanding to a record 22 GPs in 2025.

This expansion of the MotoGP race calendar to 22 Grands Prix across 5 continents is important for MotoGP fans as the most exciting sport in the world and the most talented motorcycle riders on the planet visit as many countries as possible. It’s also important for the organisers of the sport and the participating manufacturers as they want as many fans as possible to be able to enjoy MotoGP in person.

How many races are there in a typical MotoGP season?

With 22 Grand Prix races on the 2025 calendar – the most ever in the history of the sport – there will also be 22 GPs on the 2026 MotoGP™ calendar.

The MotoGP™ season typically starts in March – following several pre-season tests – then runs through the year, ending in November.

Usually in July and/or August, in the middle of a run of successive European Grands Prix, there is a three weekend summer break to give everyone involved in the World Championship some time to rest.

Here is the 2025 MotoGP™ Calendar in full:

•   2nd March | Thailand | Chang International Circuit
•   16th March | Argentina | Termas de Río Hondo
•   30th March | USA | Circuit of the Americas
•   13th April | Qatar | Lusail International Circuit
•   27th April | Spain | Circuito de Jerez-Ángel Nieto
•   11th May | France | Le Mans
•   25th May | UK | Silverstone Circuit
•   8th June | Aragon (Spain) | MotorLand Aragón
•   22nd June | Italy | Autodromo Internazionale del Mugello
•   29th June | Netherlands | TT Circuit Assen
•   13th July | Germany | Sachsenring
•   20th July | Czechia | Automotodrom Brno
•   17th August | Austria | Red Bull Ring-Spielberg
•   24th August | Hungary | Balaton Park Circuit
•   7th September | Catalonia | Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya
•   14th September | San Marino | Misano World Circuit Marco Simoncelli
•   28th September | Japan | Mobility Resort Motegi
•   5th October | Indonesia | Pertamina Mandalika International Circuit
•   19th October | Australia | Phillip Island Grand Prix Circuit
•   26th October | Malaysia | Petronas Sepang International Circuit
•   9th November | Portugal | Autódromo Internacional do Algarve
•   16th November | Valencia | Circuit Ricardo Tormo

So the season started in Asia (Thailand), then the championship headed to South America (Argentina), North America (USA) and the Middle East (Qatar) in the opening four race weekends.

Then there were 12 consecutive Grands Prix in Europe, before the so-called flyaway rounds in Australasia, namely in Japan, Indonesia, Australia and Malaysia, before the final two European rounds in Portugal and Spain (Valencia).

The calendar features some of the most historically famous and iconic motorsports venues in the world, such as Assen, Barcelona-Catalunya, Le Mans, Mugello, Phillip Island and Silverstone, as well as newer MotoGP circuits like Buriram and Mandalika.

How many races are there per Grand Prix in MotoGP?

At each respective venue, in addition to Free Practice, Practice and Qualifying sessions, fans are treated to the following races at each Grand Prix:

• MotoGP™ Sprint on Saturday afternoon
• Moto3 and Moto2 races (on Sunday morning and early afternoon)
• MotoGP race on Sunday afternoon

What factors affect the number of MotoGP races per year?

The increase in the number of MotoGP™ races over the decades and the current structure of the calendar is due to several combined factors. The jump from 6 Grands Prix in 1949 to 22 in 2025 reflects how the sport has evolved from a commercial, logistical, technological and sporting perspective.

Having previously been heavily European based, MotoGP™ has increasingly visited Asia, the Americas, and the Middle East, thanks to increased fan interest in those territories and the importance of new motorcycle markets in those regions, such as Japan, Indonesia and Thailand.

The introduction of consistent live international television broadcasting from the early 1990s has increasingly made MotoGP™ a global product, a trend which has only gathered further momentum in the digital era.

The influence of broadcasters, circuit owners, manufacturers, sponsors, partners and most importantly MotoGP fans themselves has driven the growth of the championship to include more races in key markets.

In the early years of the championship, transporting bikes, parts, and teams across continents could be difficult and costly, limiting the number of feasible races.

In fact, there are even stories of the riders themselves transporting their bikes on long-haul train and truck journeys in order to compete in the early Grand Prix races. However, with modern cargo air transport, highly efficient logistical planning and standardised paddock equipment, MotoGP™ can move across continents within a week.

More purpose-built and modernised tracks have been constructed, meeting strict FIM safety standards, which makes hosting more events possible.

Today, MotoGP is highly professionalised, with factory-supported teams and satellite teams and the championship itself having global sponsors, making longer seasons financially viable.

Ultimately, the number of Grands Prix increased because MotoGP transformed from a smaller, European-focussed racing series into a global sporting and entertainment product.

Historical changes in number of races per season

This table charts how the number of Grands Prix on the World Championship calendar has consistently increased over the decades:

Since the formation of the World Championship in 1949, the number of Grands Prix per season has steadily increased over the decades, from six GPs in the first year, to 16 GPs in 1999 to 22 GPs in 2025.

So that’s an increase in the number of Grands Prix by 16 events per season from 1949 to 2025, or a 267% increase in the number of annual GPs. Even in the last 25 years alone, the number of GPs on the calendar has grown from 16 to 22, a 37.5% increase in the number of race weekends on the schedule!

How the number of races impacts the Championship

Over the course of the season, the rider who accumulates the most points across 22 Grand Prix races and 22 Sprints will be crowned World Champion.

With 22 Grands Prix on the MotoGP™ calendar, the maximum possible points total is 814, though winning every Sprint and GP race is highly unlikely for any rider, given how fierce the competition is between the riders.

Title fights can go right down to the final race of the season and World Championships can be won or lost by the finest of margins. This has been the case on several occasions over the years, even when there were less races on the calendar.

The late, great American Nicky Hayden made consistency count in 2006, when he secured his only MotoGP™ world title on the final weekend of a 17-race season which had seen him take just two victories.

Taking third place in the 18th and final race of 2013 at Valencia (as Hayden did in 2006) was also enough to earn rookie Marc Marquez his maiden MotoGP™ World Championship by just four points, despite his closest rival Jorge Lorenzo winning the race.

In 2022, a season of 20 GPs saw Francesco Bagnaia fight his way back from a 91-point deficit to Fabio Quartararo to secure the title at Valencia. The Italian then retained the title in 2023 by winning the final race – also at Valencia – whilst his rival Jorge Martin crashed out. The 2023 season featured 20 Grands Prix and was the year that the MotoGP Sprint became part of the Grand Prix schedule, adding more race action and more drama to the championship.

Martin got revenge on Bagnaia in 2024, winning the title in the last race of the year at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya. There were 20 Grands Prix that year, during which Martin won three Sunday feature length races and seven Sprints, to clinch the title.

The Future of the MotoGP Calendar

The calendar for the 2026 season is as follows: 

So it is another season of 22 Grands Prix in 2026, as MotoGP™ makes a welcome return to Brazil for the first time in 22 years. The Goiânia International Racetrack Ayrton Senna in Brazil will host the second Grand Prix of 2026 (from 20th-22nd March), which promises to be a celebratory and colourful affair.

Another development for 2026 will be the launch of the Harley-Davidson Bagger World Cup which will race at six MotoGP™ weekends. The new 12-race series is set to feature at selected Grands Prix across Europe and North America, with riders battling each other on race-prepared Harley-Davidson Road Glide motorcycles in two races per round.

The Argentina Grand Prix at Termas de Río Hondo is not included in the 2026 schedule, though Argentina will return to the calendar in 2027, at the renovated Autodromo Oscar y Juan Galvez, near Buenos Aires.

So with 22 Grands Prix on the calendar in 2025 and 2026 there is plenty of MotoGP racing to enjoy throughout the year!

Here’s the full story on the new Harley-Davidson championship series which will race at six MotoGP weekends in 2026.