Yamaha pulls out of the Qatar MotoGP over Middle East travel ban: Quartararo and Rins miss Lusail, 6 to 8 November

Yamaha will not race at the Qatar MotoGP next weekend. The Japanese manufacturer announced on Sunday 1 November, shortly after the Malaysian Grand Prix, that it is withdrawing its factory team from the event at the Lusail International Circuit near Doha because of "the situation in the Middle East", Al Jazeera reported.

That means Fabio Quartararo, the 2021 world champion, and Alex Rins will sit out the race, which runs from Friday 6 November to Sunday 8 November.

What Yamaha and MotoGP said

Yamaha said it "has not identified sufficient grounds to change its existing company-wide travel restrictions", a corporate policy that bars staff travel to the region.

The MotoGP Group, which runs the championship, said it was "disappointed" and that "Yamaha's non-participation also carries sporting implications", without spelling out what those are. It said its own talks with the Qatari organisers and its safety advisers had found no reason to change plans, and that every other team on the grid has confirmed it will race in Qatar.

Why Qatar is a worry

Qatar came under Iranian attack between February and April this year, after the United States and Israel began their war on Iran. On Friday a Qatari LNG tanker was struck by unidentified objects in the Gulf (our report), and Washington and Tehran are trading fresh threats while talks continue through mediators. Formula One had already said in the summer that its season could end in Europe if the Gulf races could not go ahead.

The title race

The Qatar round is one of only three left this season. Marc Marquez won in Sepang on Sunday and goes to Doha with a chance to clinch the championship (Malaysian MotoGP report). Yamaha's absence does not change his maths, but it takes two bikes out of a field that is already short on genuine contenders.

Watching from Pakistan

Doha is two hours behind Pakistan, so add two hours to any Qatar session time to get PKT; the race is on Sunday 8 November. Fans travelling to the Gulf for the race should check their airline's latest Middle East advisories before flying, and today's riyal rate and dirham rate are on our data pages.