Yamaha announced Sunday that it will not compete at next weekend's Qatar Grand Prix, citing a company-wide policy barring travel to the Middle East. The decision means Yamaha's two factory motorcycles and Pramac's two satellite bikes will skip the race.
MotoGP threatened Yamaha with contractual and sporting penalties in response. The championship organizers stated that every other team committed to racing in Qatar. Yamaha said its decision "reflects Yamaha's assessment of the information currently available and is independent of the measures implemented by MotoGP Group and the event organizer." The manufacturer expects to return for the Portugal round but acknowledged it might not be allowed to rejoin.
Riders have expressed strong opposition to racing in Qatar. Jack Miller, an outgoing Pramac rider, told Motorsport.com, "I don't want to go. Like everybody. There's 19 of us that don't want to go there. I don't think we should be racing like that." He added, "You speak to 50% of the paddock, nobody wants to go. I don't understand why we need to. I don't understand."
MotoGP threatened to ban any riders who boycott Qatar from the final two rounds in Portugal and Spain. Some riders are finding workarounds. Alex Marquez elected to undergo surgery on his right shoulder, injured in May, aiming to miss only Qatar.
The Lusail International Circuit sits 27 miles from Al Udeid Air Base, the largest U.S. military base in the Middle East. Hundreds of people work in the paddock across MotoGP, Moto2 and Moto3.