Thailand is poised to join the MotoGP calendar in 2018 with a three-year race deal set to be signed later this week.

MotoGP’s commercial rights-holder, Dorna Sports, announced yesterday (Monday) that Sakon Wannapong, the Governor of the Sport Authority of Thailand (SAT), and Carmelo Ezpeleta, Dorna Sports chief executive, will sign the contract on Thursday at a ceremony in Bangkok chaired by General Tanasak Patimapragorn, Deputy Prime Minister of Thailand.

The agreement will see a grand prix held at the Chang International Circuit in Buriram, a provincial city in the northeast of the country, from 2018 to 2020. The announcement comes after the SAT in June said it had agreed terms on a deal following talks held in the Italian city of Florence.

The Buriram circuit held its third consecutive World Superbike Championship (WSBK) race in March and the city has established itself as a sporting hub.

Earlier this month, it was announced that Finland will return to the MotoGP calendar in 2019 after Dorna Sports sealed a five-year agreement with the operators of the Kymiring circuit.

The Kymiring complex is currently under construction, with the 4.8km circuit set to join the calendar a year later than originally expected due to Thailand being added to the schedule next year. The addition of the two new events is set to swell the MotoGP calendar to 20 races from 2019, unless a current grand prix is dropped.