Scheduling: The 2018 Japanese Grand Prix / Thailand MotoGP

Lewis Hamilton and Marc Marquez look to take another leap towards their respective championships as Formula 1 and MotoGP head east this weekend. For MotoGP, this year marks their first visit to Thailand, whilst Formula 1’s drivers tackle the Suzuka International Circuit in Japan.

The Japanese F1 round is live on free-to-air television for the first time since 2015, with Channel 4 covering all the action. In addition, both Lee McKenzie and Susie Wolff return to Channel 4’s line-up.

Over on Sky, Martin Brundle continues his absence, returning in Austin next time out. On the scheduling front, Sky are simulcasting their F1 coverage across both Sky Sports Main Event and Sky 1 at various points during the weekend.

With the F1 race from Suzuka starting at 06:10 UK time, and the MotoGP race from Buriram starting at 08:00 UK time, any delay or red flag situation to the F1 will see it overspill into MotoGP’s time slot, there really is very little room to manoeuvre.

The World Rally Championship returns to Wales, and with it does extended coverage on Channel 5. In previous years, Channel 4 aired the Power Stage live as well as daily highlights from the first two days. The latter continues, but the former airs on tape-delay at lunchtime, as the Power Stage this year starts at 08:00.

Elsewhere, fans of the Australian Supercars series will be disappointed to learn that, following the demise of Motorsport.tv’s television network, the Bathurst 1000 will not air live in the UK, with no sign of it appearing elsewhere.

Channel 4 F1
Sessions
05/10 – 01:55 to 03:35 – Practice 1
05/10 – 05:55 to 07:35 – Practice 2
06/10 – 03:45 to 05:10 – Practice 3
06/10 – 06:00 to 08:35 – Qualifying
06/10 – 10:30 to 12:30 – Qualifying Replay
07/10 – 05:00 to 09:30 – Race
=> 05:00 – Build-Up
=> 06:00 – Race
=> 08:30 – Reaction
07/10 – 12:30 to 15:15 – Race Replay

Sky Sports F1
Sessions
05/10 – 01:45 to 03:50 – Practice 1
05/10 – 05:45 to 07:50 – Practice 2 (also Sky Sports Main Event)
06/10 – 03:45 to 05:15 – Practice 3 (also Sky Sports Main Event)
06/10 – 06:00 to 08:30 – Qualifying (also Sky Sports Main Event and Sky One)
=> 06:00 – Pre-Show
=> 06:55 – Qualifying
07/10 – 04:30 to 09:10 – Race
=> 04:30 – Pit Lane Live
=> 05:30 – On the Grid (also Sky One)
=> 06:05 – Race (also Sky Sports Main Event and Sky One)
=> 08:30 – Paddock Live (also Sky Sports Main Event and Sky One)

Supplementary Programming
04/10 – 07:00 to 07:30 – Driver Press Conference
04/10 – 10:00 to 10:30 – Welcome to the Weekend
06/10 – 08:30 to 09:00 – The F1 Show (also Sky Sports Main Event)
10/10 – 19:00 to 21:00 – F1 eSports Pro Series (also Sky Sports Mix)

BBC Radio F1
04/10 – 20:30 to 21:00 – Preview (BBC Radio 5 Live)
05/10 – 01:55 to 03:35 – Practice 1 (BBC Radio 5 Live Sports Extra)
05/10 – 05:55 to 07:35 – Practice 2 (BBC Radio 5 Live Sports Extra)
06/10 – 03:55 to 05:05 – Practice 3 (BBC Radio 5 Live Sports Extra)
06/10 – 06:55 to 08:05 – Qualifying (BBC Radio 5 Live Sports Extra)
07/10 – 06:00 to 08:00 – Race (BBC Radio 5 Live)

MotoGP – Thailand (BT Sport 2)
05/10 – 02:45 to 10:15 – Practice 1 and 2
06/10 – 03:00 to 10:15
=> 03:00 – Practice 3
=> 06:00 – Qualifying
07/10 – 02:30 to 10:00
=> 02:30 – Warm Ups
=> 04:15 – Moto3
=> 06:00 – Moto2
=> 07:30 – MotoGP
=> 09:00 – Chequered Flag

MotoGP – Thailand (Channel 5)
09/10 – 19:00 to 20:00 – Highlights

Asia Talent Cup – Thailand (BT Sport 2)
06/10 – 10:15 to 11:15 – Race 1

Speedway Grand Prix – Poland (BT Sport 3)
06/10 – 17:45 to 21:15 – Races

World Rally Championship – Britain
Every stage live via WRCPlus.com
05/10 – Day 1 Highlights
=> 00:00 to 00:30 (BT Sport 3)
=> 00:20 to 00:45 (Channel 5)
06/10 – 12:00 to 13:00 – Live: Stage 14 (BT Sport 2)
06/10 – Day 2 Highlights
=> 22:45 to 23:15 (BT Sport 2)
=> 00:05 to 00:35 (Channel 5)
07/10 – 08:00 to 09:30 – Live: Stage 19 [Power Stage] (BT Sport/ESPN)
07/10 – 12:00 to 13:30 – Delayed: Stage [Power Stage] (Channel 5)
07/10 – 12:00 to 13:00 – Live: Stage 23 (BT Sport 2)
07/10 – 23:00 to 23:30 – Day 3 Highlights (BT Sport 1)
08/10 – 00:00 to 01:00 – Highlights (Channel 5)

The schedule above will be updated if anything changes.

Update on October 7th – A few points for future reference on Channel 5’s WRC coverage. Their daily highlights on Friday and Saturday night ended up airing in a Saturday and Sunday morning slot respectively. Furthermore, Sunday’s programme was live, covering Stage 23 (when it eventually started) as opposed to delayed coverage of the Power Stage.