Southeast Asia has a very large appeal for motorcycle manufacturers due to its strong sales and cheap labour force and MotoGP racing is exponentially growing in its appeal in that part of the world.
Last May, Dorna’s Carmelo Ezpeleta, talking about other racing venues said “there are other projects in Asia also,” and this other project, besides Motorsport City, which will be located near the border of Malaysia and Singapore, could be the Buriram International Circuit in Thailand that is about 250 miles north of Bangkok.
Representatives of a new track, which is designed by Hermann Tilke, recently met with Ezpeleta for talks at Mugello who told British website MCN that a spot for a race in Thailand could be made available on the 2015 calendar.
Newin Chidchob, a former Thai politician from the Buriram province, president of Buriram United, told The Nation that he decided to construct the new racing circuit because he is “motorsport lover, especially motorcycle racing because there are no circuits in Thailand that are able to cater to world-class events”.
The circuit will be completed and ready for use by October 4 of next year at a cost of US$60 million.
Since Dorna has no intention of adding more races to the calendar, to make room for an event in Thailand, Dorna could axe one of the American rounds, which they are already considering, with Indianapolis already making noises that MotoGP is no longer feasible, or one of the four Spanish rounds.