This weekend is the fifth round of the 2023 MotoGP Championship in France at Le Mans.
Of course you want to know How you can watch this weekend’s race, so here’s everything you need to know about the action and the full 2023 calendar, plus your options for both streaming and watching on TV.
When does the French MotoGP race start?
- Sunday May 14 at 2pm local time, which is GMT+1 (that’s 1pm BST, 8am ET, 5am US West Coast)
Free practice will be broadcast on television on Friday and Saturday, followed by qualifying. Here is the program for the weekend. All times are local time (GMT+2).
- Friday May 12 Practice 1: 10:45-11:30 a.m., Practice 2: 3:00-4:00 p.m.
- Saturday May 13 Free practice: 10.10-10.40 am, Qualifying: 10.50-11.30am
- Sunday May 14 Warm-up: 9:45-9:55 am; Race start – 2pm
Here are the start times around the world.
MotoGP
Will MotoGP be broadcast on Free TV?
In some countries it is, but in most countries you must have the correct pay TV package.
In the UK eg. BT Sports has exclusive rights to live coverage until 2024.
Race highlights are available on ITV4. tune in on Monday, May 15 at 8-9 p.m. Highlights from the last few races can also be found on ITVX.
In the US, you can watch a replay of the race on NBC on Saturday, April 22 at 3 p.m. ET.
If you don’t have BT broadband, you can still get BT Sport through the Monthly subscription, which costs £29.99. But for those who do have BT broadband, adding a TV package is easy.
In the US, NBC has exclusive broadcast rights to MotoGP for the 2023 season. Coverage is on NBC or CNBC and is also streamed on NBCSports.com and the NBC Sports app. Only a few will be broadcast live (such as the Grand Prix of the Americas on April 16 at 2:30pm ET, most of which will be broadcast later after the race on the same day.
Here is a list of the broadcasters in different countries and regions that (as far as we know) will broadcast MotoGP races in 2022:
- UK: BT Sport 2
- USA: NBC & CNBC – full list of broadcast times here
- Australia: Foxtel/Kayo Sports
- Canada: Rev TV (via cable providers)
- Africa: SuperSport
- Asia: Fox Sports
- Belgium: Channel +
- Benelux: Eurosport
- Brazil: Fox Sports
- Czech Republic Slovakia: Nova Sport
- France: C8
- Germany: Servis TV
- Greece: CosmoteTv
- Indian Subcontinent: OSport
- Indonesia: Trans7
- Italy:
- Japan: G+
- Japan: Hulu
- Latin America: ESPN
- Mexico: ESPN2
- Netherlands: Ziggo Sport
- Poland: Polsat Sport
- Portugal: Sports TV
- Russia: motorsport.tv
- Spain: DAZN
- Sweden: ViaSat
- Switzerland: SRF
- Thailand: PPTV HD
MotoGP Video Pass
Wherever you are in the world, you can get the MotoGP VideoPass, which lets you stream live and on-demand coverage of every GP on your devices – and TV if you have an Android TV, Apple TV, Roku or Amazon Fire TV.
It costs €199.99 for the full season. Streaming is in Full HD – sadly not UHD – but it also includes 45,000 videos dating back to 1992.
Watch MotoGP with a VPN
By using a VPN you can watch MotoGP even if you are not in your home country when a race is on. Alternatively, it means you might be able to watch races live for free by watching a streaming service that shows the race on free TV and streaming it on its website. You just launch the VPN, connect to a server in your country and from abroad you can watch as if you were at home.
Of course, this also works the other way around and allows you to watch races on TV networks that stream online but are region specific. You may still need an account for that TV service, but with a good VPN like NordVPN you can bypass those regional blocks.
We can’t show you how to unblock every single streaming service or which VPN unblocks every streaming service, but here’s a quick guide so you can see how easy it is to use a VPN to give the impression that you’re in is in the same country as the streaming service even though you are really somewhere else. Note that you’ll need an account with the streaming service and, if relevant, a current subscription if it’s not free to watch (as most are not).
Sign up for NordVPN
![Unblock streaming services with NordVPN -1](https://b2c-contenthub.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/How-to-watch-iPlayer-abroad-NordVPN-1.jpg?quality=50&strip=all&w=1200)
Jim Martin / Foundry
By default, the Complete plan is selected, but if you just need the VPN, click Get Standard. At the top, choose between a two-year, one-year, or one-month subscription.
Follow the prompts to create and pay for your account.
Install the NordVPN app
![Unblock streaming services with NordVPN - 1a](https://b2c-contenthub.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/How-to-watch-iPlayer-abroad-NordVPN-1a.jpg?quality=50&strip=all&w=1200)
Jim Martin / Foundry
If you’re using a phone or tablet, just go to the app store (Google Play for Android) and search for NordVPN, and install it.
If you’re using Windows, log into your NordVPN account in a web browser, go to the Downloads section and click Download app next to Download NordVPN for Windows. Run the downloaded file to install it.
Launch NordVPN
![Unblock streaming services with NordVPN -2](https://b2c-contenthub.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/How-to-watch-iPlayer-abroad-NordVPN-2.jpg?quality=50&strip=all&w=1200)
Jim Martin / Foundry
Launch the app and log in with the email address and password you entered when creating an account with NordVPN. You should see a screen like this on Windows, but other apps are very similar.
Use the list of locations (the word icon in the top left) or browse the map to connect to the country where the streaming service is located. Here we connect to London, UK for BT Sport 2.
Let NordVPN set up a VPN connection if requested. You may need to enter your Windows password or, on a mobile device, your passcode.
Wait for the VPN to connect
![Unblock streaming services with NordVPN - 3](https://b2c-contenthub.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/How-to-watch-iPlayer-abroad-NordVPN-3.jpg?quality=50&strip=all&w=1200)
Jim Martin / Foundry
You should see a message telling you that the VPN is connected. You can see this by the green CONNECTED and a padlock above United Kingdom.
Open your streaming service app
![Watch MotoGP on BT Sport 2](https://b2c-contenthub.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/BT-Sport-2-MotoGP.jpg?quality=50&strip=all&w=1200)
Jim Martin / Foundry
Open the app for your streaming service or go to its website.
Log in to your account (create one if you don’t already have one) then navigate to MotoGP coverage. It should work just fine, as the VPN will make it seem like you’re in the UK, even if you’re elsewhere in the world.
MotoGP 2023 calendar
Round |
race date |
Start time |
Country |
Circuit |
1 |
March 26 |
2pm BST |
Portugal |
Portimao |
2 | April 2 |
6pm BST |
Argentina |
Termas de Rio Hondo |
3 |
April 16 |
8pm BST |
USA |
Circuit of America |
4 |
30th of April |
2pm BST |
Spain |
Jerez |
5 |
May 14 |
1pm BST |
France |
Le Mans |
6 |
June 11 |
1pm BST |
Italy |
Mugello |
7 |
June 18 |
1pm BST |
Germany |
Sachsen ring |
8 |
25 June |
1pm BST |
The Netherlands |
shafts |
9 |
July 9 |
10am BST |
Kazakhstan |
Sokol |
10 |
August 6 |
1pm BST |
Great Britain |
Silverstone |
11 |
20th of August |
1pm BST |
Austria |
Red Bull Ring |
12 | September 3 | 1:00 p.m. BSP | Spain | Catalonia |
13 |
Sept 10 |
1pm BST |
Italy |
Misano |
14 |
September 24 |
7:30pm BST |
India |
Buddha |
15 |
October 1 |
7am BST |
Japan |
motegi |
16 | October 15 | 7am BST | Indonesia | Mandalika |
17 |
22 October |
4 hours BST |
Australia |
Phillip Island |
18 |
29 October |
7 am GMT |
Thailand |
Change |
19 |
November 12 |
6 am GMT |
Malaysia |
Sepang |
20 |
November 19 |
17:00 GMT |
Qatar |
Lusail |
21 | November 26 | 14:00 GMT | Spain | Valencia (Ricardo Tormo) |