Buriram lights up the 2026 MotoGP World Championship: favorites, surprises, and complete TV schedule

The 2026 season kicks off, MotoGP World Championship starts in Buriram. Below are all the schedules, live on Sky Sport and “semi-delayed” on TV8. 

With the final tests wrapped up, it’s time to look ahead to the new year. In just a few days the first GP of the 2026 MotoGP World Championship gets underway, right in Thailand, where the premier class has been revving up over the past two days. The field is therefore particularly even and a red-hot battle is expected: Ducati and Aprilia riders are seen as the main favorites, but after two days of official testing there could also be surprises from KTM and Honda, while Yamaha must focus solely on working hard on the new V4, a very young project that puts its riders at a clear disadvantage at this start of the season... 

It’s a wait-and-see for the other two categories. Moto2 and Moto3 have only lapped on the Iberian Peninsula, in the rain at Portimao (for some at least) and under the sun in Jerez, so this first event will be full of unknowns. On paper there are favorites, but since it’s the first event of the new season, it’s better to await the first track results, especially for the smaller classes. A night-time/morning championship start for European fans: below are all the times for the Thailand GP, live in full on Sky Sport MotoGP (streaming on SkyGo and NowTV). TV8, on the other hand, starts right away with “semi-delayed” coverage: it will broadcast qualifying and the Sprint live, while the three Sunday races will be shown delayed. 

Friday, February 27
3:00-3:35 Moto3 Free Practice 1
3:50-4:30 Moto2 Free Practice 1
4:45-5:30 MotoGP Free Practice 1
7:15-7:50 Moto3 Practice
8:05-8:45 Moto2 Practice
9:00-10:00 MotoGP Practice  

Saturday, February 28 
2:40-3:10 Moto3 Free Practice 2
3:25-3:55 Moto2 Free Practice 2
4:10-4:40 MotoGP Free Practice 2
4:50-5:30 MotoGP Qualifying (Q1-Q2)
6:50-7:30 Moto3 Qualifying (Q1-Q2)
7:45-8:25 Moto2 Qualifying (Q1-Q2)
9:00 MotoGP Sprint – 13 laps  

Sunday, March 1
4:40-4:50 MotoGP Warm Up
6:00 Moto3 Race – 19 laps
7:15 Moto2 Race – 22 laps
9:00 MotoGP Race – 26 laps  

Saturday, February 28 (live)
4:50-5:30 MotoGP Qualifying (Q1-Q2)
6:50-7:30 Moto3 Qualifying (Q1-Q2)
7:45-8:25 Moto2 Qualifying (Q1-Q2)
9:00 MotoGP Sprint – 13 laps    

Sunday, March 1 (delayed)
11:00 Moto3 Race – 19 laps
12:15 Moto2 Race – 22 laps
14:00 MotoGP Race – 26 laps