MotoGP is the premier class of motorcycle road racing, the two-wheeled equivalent of Formula 1. The bikes are prototypes built only for racing, with 1000cc engines and top speeds beyond 350 kilometres per hour. Since 2023, every Grand Prix weekend has carried two scoring races, a Saturday sprint and a Sunday Grand Prix, which makes MotoGP one of the most action-packed championships in world sport.
The three classes
A Grand Prix weekend features three separate championships. MotoGP is the premier class, with 22 riders across 11 teams and five manufacturers: Ducati, Aprilia, KTM, Honda and Yamaha. The bikes are prototypes, built to the rulebook and impossible to buy.
Moto2 is the intermediate class, using 765cc Triumph engines with identical engines and electronics across the field, so rider skill matters more than machinery. Moto3 is the entry level, with 250cc single-cylinder bikes and the youngest riders. Moto2 and Moto3 are the sport's career ladder: riders prove themselves there before stepping up to MotoGP. All three classes race at every Grand Prix weekend, with Moto3 and Moto2 running on Sunday before the main event.
The race weekend
A Grand Prix weekend runs from Friday to Sunday. Friday has two practice sessions, including a timed afternoon session that decides which riders go straight through to the second part of qualifying. Saturday morning has qualifying, split into Q1 and Q2: the fastest ten riders from practice go directly to Q2, while the rest fight through Q1 for the final two places. The top 12 on the grid are set by Q2.
Saturday afternoon brings the sprint race, officially the Tissot Sprint, run over roughly half the Grand Prix distance, usually around twenty minutes. Sunday opens with a short warm-up, then the Moto3 and Moto2 races, and finally the main Grand Prix, which lasts around 40 minutes. There are no pit stops unless rain forces a bike change.
The points system
MotoGP awards points twice a weekend. The Sunday Grand Prix pays points to the top 15 finishers: 25 for the winner, then 20, 16, 13, 11, 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2 and 1. The Saturday sprint pays a reduced scale to the top nine: 12 for the winner, then 9, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2 and 1. A rider who wins both races in a weekend scores a maximum of 37 points.
The sprint is contested only in the MotoGP class. Moto2 and Moto3 run a single race on Sunday. The sprint grid is set by the same Saturday morning qualifying as the Grand Prix, and the sprint result does not change the Sunday grid.
Formats and major competitions
The championship is sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de Motocyclisme, the FIM, and promoted by Dorna Sports. The 2026 season has 22 rounds, running from March to the end of November, starting in Thailand and finishing in Valencia. The rider with the most points at the end of the season is crowned world champion, and there are separate championships for teams and manufacturers.
MotoGP races at many of the world's great circuits, including Silverstone, the Red Bull Ring, Barcelona, Lusail and Sepang, and shares several venues with Formula 1. The season is a global tour, and the title fight usually goes down to the final rounds.
A brief history
MotoGP is the oldest motorsport world championship still running, tracing its history back to 1949. For most of that time it was a single race per weekend decided on Sunday. The sprint arrived in 2023 and changed the shape of every weekend, giving riders a second chance to score points and fans a second race to watch.
In 2025, Liberty Media, the owner of Formula 1, bought Dorna Sports, bringing the two championships under the same ownership. From 2027, the bikes will change: engines drop from 1000cc to 850cc, ride-height devices are banned, and Pirelli replaces Michelin as the tyre supplier. The 2026 season is therefore the last year of the current formula.
What makes MotoGP different
MotoGP is a prototype championship. Every machine on the grid is built to the rulebook and cannot be bought, which is the line between MotoGP and production-based racing such as World Superbike. The riders lean their bikes so far into corners that their elbows can touch the track, and there are no pit stops unless rain forces a bike change. That combination of prototype machinery, extreme lean angles and two scoring races per weekend is what sets MotoGP apart from every other motorsport.
How to follow it
If you are new to MotoGP, start with the sprint. It is short, intense and often decides who carries momentum into Sunday. Then watch qualifying: the top 12 shootout decides the grid for both races, and a good grid position matters more in MotoGP than in almost any other motorsport, because overtaking is hard and the first corner is often chaotic. And remember the points: a rider who finishes second on both days can outscore a rider who wins on Sunday and crashes on Saturday.