Honda issues vague statement to affirm Qatar MotoGP commitment

Honda has published a statement which affirms its commitment to competing in the Qatar MotoGP.

The Qatar Grand Prix has been in uncertainty since the Middle East war between Iran, and the US and Israel began in February. Initially, the race was postponed until November, with the assumption that the conflict would have cooled or concluded by then.

However, the race is now just one week away and the war is ongoing. It has cooled for a period of time, but reports suggest that it could reignite this week after the mid-term elections in the US.

The riders have had several meetings together at last week’s Australian Grand Prix and this weekend’s Malaysian MotoGP, with a letter signed by the majority of riders having been sent to the championship organisers in Malaysia, as reported by GPOne.

The objective of the letter is to express to the series organisers the displeasure of the riders at the plans to go ahead with the race despite the conflict in the region. But the race is still due to go ahead.

A statement from Yamaha after the conclusion of the Malaysian race explicitly stated that the manufacturer will not compete in Qatar next week based on the company's travel policy for the Middle East region. That has now been followed by a statement from Honda which has affirmed its participation in the Lusail race.

“Honda HRC will compete in Round 20 of the MotoGP World Championship held in Qatar,” reads the statement from HRC, sent to Crash.net in response to a query about the company's travel policy.

“We have been working closely with the riders, our team members and MotoGPSEG [MotoGP Sports Entertainment Group] to ensure the weekend goes ahead.”

Honda's Joan Mir has cast doubt on his own participation in Qatar because of health reasons, as his blurred vision returned during the Malaysian Grand Prix, his first race since September.

Yamaha’s statement was met with one from MotoGP which threatened sporting penalties on the brand, although no statement has been made by the FIM, which is in control of sporting sanctions in the world championship.

Yamaha will still have representation in Qatar because the Pramac Moto2 team will compete there by their own choice. Pramac’s Izan Guevara leaves Malaysia 3.5 points behind championship leader Manuel Gonzalez.