When MotoGP first announced it would kick off its 2025 season with a first of its kind launch extravaganza in Bangkok, no one really knew what to expect.
But, one successful event later, it’s fair to say that the series might well have a new blueprint for how the championship should start every year.
I’m more than happy to admit that I was somewhat sceptical in the past few weeks about what this event would look like for a while - and to be frank, the more I spoke to team personnel in particular, the more I felt that I wasn’t the only one with similar reservations.
MotoGP promoter Dorna has not, after all, ever staged anything similar to this in terms of scope or scale before, and it felt a bit like it had bitten off more than it could chew as teams, riders, organisers and media raced from pre-season testing at Sepang in Malaysia to the Ritz Carlton Bangkok in Thailand without even as much as a free day for rehearsals.
And trust me when I say that there were times when it felt like it could quickly devolve into a bit of chaos. Not so much because the people in charge weren’t capable, but more because it felt like maybe they’d over-reached with the plan for year one of the event.
Yet, in the end, the stress and the extra work added to the already-packed pre-season schedule was worth every penny, and Dorna delivered what it set out to with resounding success.
I’ve said for years that the best way to sell the spectacular nature of MotoGP is to take it to where the people are. You can have all the slick marketing you want, but let’s be honest: it’s hard to beat skids and wheelies on city streets!
Credit to the riders, too: they rose to the occasion by putting on exactly that sort of show.
Anyone doubting why Jack Miller secured a prime satellite Yamaha seat with Pramac for 2025 only has to watch the event back. The Australian gets what fans want to see, and he played his role to perfection in front of a decently large Thai crowd.
It’s exactly the sort of thing that MotoGP has been missing in recent years, but the concept is absolutely a sound one - just ask any of the thousands of fans present at the free event.
In fact, it did something that the series has been quite unable to do in recent years: it made MotoGP look really exciting. It felt like a step away from the VIP-focused, Formula 1-copying sanitised PR events we’ve fallen into the habit of, and took motorbikes back to their roots: loud, lairy and fun. And remember MotoGP announced it was doing this event before F1 revealed its plan for an equivalent season launch at the 02 Arena in London later this month.
Sure, not everything ran to absolute perfection, but that’s the nature of doing something for the first time and at a bit of a rush. Next year’s, I’m sure, will be even bigger and better, and hopefully in a different location.
Not everywhere can host a MotoGP race, but the launch format presents a fantastic opportunity to take the show on the road to places that are considering it.
Take 2026, for example, with the rumoured return of Brazil to the calendar. Copacabana beach, anyone?
