I've seen a few MotoGP races live, here are some thoughts:
- are you a grandstand person or a gen pop lawn person? Qatar and Thailand have no lawn seating, it's all grandstand. In hot and muggy countries like Malaysia, I'd pick the shaded grandstand personally, or cart around some kind of sun protection (umbrella, tent) to set up on the grass. Personally, I like the vibe of lawn seating, you can walk around and talk to the rest of the race fans around you, instead of just the person seated beside you in the stands.
- some races are better seen on TV than in person. Flat tracks (as in elevation, not in dirt ovals) are especially bad as you only get to see racers whiz past in front of you, where tracks with lots of elevation are more exciting in person. Silverstone is especially bad for this. Valencia is a great track live because most of the track is at the bottom of a bowl and you can see pretty much the entire track from some vantage points.
- speaking of TV, figure our where the screens are and try to get a spot (either lawn or seats) so you can watch the rest of the race after the race leaders have gone past you. I tried listening to the announcers over the speaker, didn't like it, YMMV. DO NOT count on IP access to listen to the race over the mobile Internet, reception is shared with 10s of thousands of people at the venue and connectivity will be spotty depending on which country you are in. Live timing over IP works well because it's not real-time broadcast.
- I like MotoGP, but I'd never go to a city just because of one race. I'd pick a city or country that you're actually interested in visiting so you can spend the rest of vacation touring some place interesting. However, if you are a MotoGP groupie and want to see more than one race in succession, there is a stretch in the summer where there are sometimes 3-4 races in Europe over 6 weeks in close proximity. A few of my friends have done MotoGP vacations where they've booked a EuroRail or rented a car and followed the MotoGP caravan over three races. In 2026, the closest Euro races are Le Mans on May 8th and then Barcelona the week after (May 15), then Mugello on May 29th, and and Hungary the week after. Check out the calendar here:
Check the official 2026 MotoGP™ calendar, all the dates, circuits and countries from the MotoGP, Moto2, Moto3 and MotoE World Championships here.
www.motogp.com
Personally, my favorite MotoGP memory was watching Valentino Rossi take one of his last race wins in Misano, which is just a short distance away from Tavullia, where he grew up. After the race, all the fans stormed the track and marched to the podium ceremony to celebrate with him. Then we all rode back to Tavullia and continued the party there.
Mugello is on my bucket-list. I like the passion of the Italian and Spanish fans since most of the racers are Italian and Spanish. And Mugello is such a legendary track.
