How to watch MotoGP: Portugal start time and live stream

It’s the first round of the 2023 MotoGP championship this weekend in Portugal: the long wait is over.

Of course you want to know how you can watch the race, so here’s everything you need to know about the action plus the full 2023 schedule, plus your streaming and TV viewing options.

What is the start time of the Portuguese MotoGP race?

• Sunday March 26 To 14:00 BST (also 2:00 p.m. local time)

Free practice is televised on Friday and Saturday, followed by qualifying. Here is the program for the weekend. For those in the UK, remember that the clocks move forward on Sunday morning, so Sunday times are in British Summer Time, while Friday and Saturday times are in GMT.)

• Friday March 24 Training 1: 10:45-11:30 am, Training 2: 3:00-4:00 pm
• saturday 2March 5 Free practice: 10:10 a.m. to 10:40 a.m., Qualifying: 10:50 a.m.-11:30 a.m.
• sunday 2March 6 Warm-up: 9:45-9:55 a.m.; Start of the race – 2 p.m.

Here are the departure times worldwide. The race starts at 9:00 a.m. for those on the US East Coast and 6:00 a.m. for those on the West Coast.

Is MotoGP shown on free-to-air TV?

In some countries this is the case, but in most places you will need to have the correct pay TV package.

In the UK, for example, BT Sports has exclusive live coverage rights until 2024.

Race highlights are available on ITV4. For the Portuguese race, meet on Monday March 27 at 10:15 p.m. They will also be on ITV X.

If you don’t have BT broadband, you can still get BT Sport by buying the monthly pass, which costs £29.99. But for those with BT broadband, adding a TV package is simple.

In the United States, NBC has exclusive rights to broadcast MotoGP for the 2023 season. Coverage will be on NBC or CNBC and will also air on NBCSports.com and the NBC Sports app. Only some will be broadcast live (like the Grand Prix of the Americas on April 16 at 2:30 p.m. ET, with the majority airing later after the race on the same day.

Here is a list of broadcasters from various countries and regions that (as far as we know) will be showing MotoGP races in 2022:

• United Kingdom: BT Sport 2
• US: NBC and CNBC – full list of broadcast times here
• Australia: Foxtel / Kayo Sports
• Canada: Rev TV (via cable companies)
• Africa: SuperSport
• Asia: Fox Sports
• Belgium: Canal+
• Benelux: Eurosport
• Brazil: Fox Sports
• Czech Republic Slovakia: Nova Sport
• France: C8
• Germany: Servus TV
• Greece: Cosmote TV
• Indian subcontinent: OSport
• Indonesia: Trans7
• Italy:
• Japan: Google+
• Japan: Hulu
• Latin America: ESPN
• Mexico: ESPN2
• Netherlands: Ziggo Sport
• Poland: Polsat Sport
• Portugal: sports television
• Russia: motorsport.tv
• Spain: DAZN
• Sweden: ViaSat
• Switzerland: FRS
• Thailand: PPTV HD

Wherever you are in the world, you can get the MotoGP VideoPass, which lets you stream live, on-demand coverage from every GP to your devices – and TV if you have an Android TV, Apple TV, Roku or Amazon FireTV.

It costs €199.99 for the full season. The streaming is in Full HD – not UHD unfortunately – but it also includes 45,000 videos to watch from as far back as 1992.

Watch MotoGP with a VPN

Using a VPN allows you to watch MotoGP even if you are not in your home country when a race is in progress. Alternatively, this means you may be able to watch live races for free by watching a streaming service showing the race on free TV and streaming it on their website. You simply fire up the VPN, connect to a server in your country, and from abroad you can watch as if you were at home.

Of course, it also works the other way around and lets you watch races on TV networks that stream online but are region locked. You may still need an account for this TV service, but with a good VPN such as NordVPN, you can bypass these regional blocks.

We can’t show you how to unblock every streaming service or which VPN unblocks each, but here’s a quick guide so you can see how simple it is to use a VPN to appear in the same country as the streaming service even if you’re really somewhere else. Keep in mind that you’ll need an account with the streaming service and, if applicable, a current subscription if it’s not free to watch (as most are not).

2023 Moto GP calendar

Round	Race date	Start time	Country	Circuit
1	March 26	14:00 BST	Portugal	Portimao
2	April 2	6:00 p.m. BST	Argentina	Rio Hondo terms
3	April 16	8pm BST	UNITED STATES	Circuit of the Americas
4	April 30	14:00 BST	Spain	Sherry
5	May 14	1pm BST	France	Le Mans
6	June 11	1pm BST	Italy	Mugello
7	June 18	1pm BST	Germany	Sachsenring
8	June 25	1pm BST	The Netherlands	Assen
9	July 9th	10:00 BST	Kazakhstan	Sokol
ten	August 6	1pm BST	Britain	Silverstone
11	20 August	1pm BST	Austria	Red bull ring
12	September 3	1pm BSP	Spain	Catalonia
13	September 10	1pm BST	Italy	Misano
14	September 24	7.30pm BST	India	Buddh
15	October 1	07:00 BST	Japan	Motegi
16	October 15	07:00 BST	Indonesia	Mandalika
17	October 22	4am BST	Australia	Philip Island
18	October 29	07:00 GMT	Thailand	Chang
19	November 12	6:00 GMT	Malaysia	Sepang
20	November 19	17:00 GMT	Qatar	Lusail
21	November 26	14:00 GMT	Spain	Valencia (Ricardo Tormo)