The 2026 MotoGP riders held a secret meeting at this weekend's Australian Grand Prix to vote on whether they were prepared to race in Qatar in a fortnight - according to The Race's sources in the paddock - amid rising tensions in the Gulf region and an increase in government travel warnings.
The meeting was held on Thursday evening at Phillip Island, with sources reporting that two thirds of those in attendance voted against racing at Lusail.
MotoGP was originally supposed to race in Qatar in early April but the event was moved to November following the outbreak of hostilities between Iran, Israel and the United States that also resulted in significant travel disruption as the paddock travelled home from the season-opener in Thailand in March.
MotoGP bosses have been adamant in recent weeks that the Qatar race will go ahead as planned, issuing fresh guidance to the teams earlier this week stating that the goal was still to head from Sepang to Lusail as originally planned early next month.
"We are monitoring the situation closely," MotoGP deputy CEO Carlos Ezpeleta told the media at the last event in Indonesia.
"We are planning to travel to Qatar but, obviously, the safety and wellbeing of all personnel and fans is our top priority. We continue to monitor developments
"There could always be unforeseen circumstances. Again, we have to work together with the team, with the promoter, to make sure everything is safe and that there are contingency plans."
Though the war has been halted by a shaky truce since April, there are concerns that the situation could change around the US midterm elections (set to take place the week of the Qatar race).
This week has featured a number of statements suggesting that US president Donald Trump might be preparing for fresh military action, including a warning from the Emir of Qatar telling his citizens to prepare for fresh unrest, the US government's decision to evacuate dependents of embassy staff out of the region, and the imminent arrival of a third US aircraft carrier in the Indian Ocean.
That backdrop has led to growing discontent from within the paddock about whether MotoGP should be heading to Qatar this year at all.
When asked about the situation ahead of this weekend's race at Phillip Island, most of the grid declined to comment at length, saying only that they trusted the series organisers to make the right call.
"Every day it changes, and every day it looks worse," Alex Marquez, the only rider who spoke at length about the situation, said when asked about the Qatar concerns by The Race.
"It's like it is. The championship is saying to us that everything is under control, but I think that nobody has a situation like this under control, that is quite complex.
"I think from one day to another, things can change a lot, and I think it's not a decision that they need to take now. In the next days, they need to be realistic.
"For sure it is a lot of money on the deal, and Dorna wants everything. It's like that. But also with the health of everybody they need to take care as well, because many people will go there."
One additional complication, beyond the immediate risk of Qatar once again coming under fire from Iranian drones and missiles, is the potential complication of airspace being closed for an extended period of time - and what impact that could have on the remaining two races of the season in Portugal and Spain should personnel and freight get stranded in Doha.
At the end of August the paddock expectation was that the Qatar race would not go ahead. Multiple team sources told The Race back then that logistics and insurance issues would make holding the race impossible unless there was a significant improvement to the situation.
One of the key factors at that time was a Japanese government warning to avoid all but essential travel to Qatar, a clause that normally voids travel insurance and prevents corporate travel, something that would obviously be a significant issue for a number of the series' factories. And, with further countries issuing warnings since then, it seems that that could still remain an issue.
Currently, key countries that have issued warnings against travelling to Qatar include the United States ('reconsider travel'), Spain ('it is advisable to postpone your trip until further notice'), France ('the situation in the region remains highly unstable'), and Japan ('avoid non-essential travel').
Media attendance in Qatar is also likely to be limited if the race happens. TNT Sports commentator Neil Hodgson said on air during the UK broadcaster’s Moto3 coverage that, should the race go ahead, TNT would broadcast from a London studio rather than on-site.