Somkiat Chantra
Thai motorcycle racer (born 1998)
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Somkiat Chantra (Thai: สมเกียรติ จันทรา;[2] born 15 December 1998) is a Thai motorcycle racer who is contracted to compete in the Superbike World Championship for Honda HRC. Chantra previously competed for Idemitsu Honda LCR during the 2025 MotoGP World Championship, becoming the first Thai rider to compete at the highest level of Grand Prix motorcycle racing. Chantra is also a two-time race winner in Moto2, in which he competed for Idemitsu Honda Team Asia between 2019 and 2024.
| Somkiat Chantra | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Chantra at the 2025 Malaysian Grand Prix | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Nationality | Thai | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Born | 15 December 1998 Pattaya, Chonburi, Thailand[1] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Current team | Honda HRC | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Bike number | 35 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Chantra is the second Asia Talent Cup graduate to debut in MotoGP after Ai Ogura, both starting from the 2025 MotoGP season.
Career
Early career
Coming through the Shell Advance Asia Talent Cup ranks, Chantra gained fame by becoming the champion in 2016.[3] He competed in the 2017 FIM CEV Moto3 Junior World Championship, and qualified on Pole Position in the season opener, but crashed out of the race. He would finish 8th in Le Mans, 13th in Jerez, 7th in Aragon, and 10th in Valencia, finishing the season 20th overall, with 26 points. He stayed in the 2018 FIM CEV Moto3 Junior World Championship, and was a constant finisher in the high points scoring places, but could not score a podium, his season's best result a 4th place in France. He ended the year 9th in the standings, with 61 total points.
Moto3 World Championship
Chantra was given a wild-card race appearance as his debut in Grand Prix racing, in the 2018 Thailand motorcycle Grand Prix, his home GP. He seized his chance, crossing the line in ninth place, scoring a brilliant seven points, and earning himself a full-time ride for next season.
Moto2 World Championship
Idemitsu Honda Team Asia (2019–2024)
Riding for the newly formed Honda Asia Team in 2019, created specifically to give Asian riders a chance in Moto2 and Moto3, Chantra performed well as a rookie, scoring 23 points in the season, while his teammates Dimas Ekky Pratama, Andi Farid Izdihar, Teppei Nagoe, and Gerry Salim scored none.
Racing full time for Honda Asia Team again in 2020, Chantra struggled to reproduce what he did last season, scoring points in just two races, ending the season with 10 points. His teammate was Izdihar for the whole year, who scored no points.
Chantra had a bounce-back 2021 season, and so did the Honda Asia Team. Chantra scored 37 points throughout the year, his highest finish coming in Austria, where rookie teammate Ai Ogura came in second place, and Chantra in fifth, scoring a season-high in points for the team.[4]
MotoGP World Championship
LCR Honda (2025)
On 29 August 2024, it was announced that Chantra would replace Takaaki Nakagami in the LCR Honda squad for the 2025 MotoGP World Championship, being the first Thai rider ever to sign a MotoGP contract.[5] Chantra struggled during the early races of 2025, and he was sidelined following the Spanish Grand Prix after an arm pump surgery. He suffered a collateral ligament injury in his right knee after off-road training on 1 July 2025. Subsequently, Chantra, who managed to score his first point at the Dutch TT, missed the German, Czech, and Austrian rounds of the championship.
At the end of September, Chantra was announced to be departing the team and MotoGP following the conclusion of the season, being replaced by Diogo Moreira.[6]
Superbike World Championship
Honda HRC (2026-)
On 30 September 2025 it was announced that Chantra would move to the Superbike World Championship with the Honda HRC team for the 2026 season alongside Jake Dixon.[7]
Career statistics
Asia Talent Cup
Races by year
(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in italics indicate fastest lap)
FIM CEV Moto3 Junior World Championship
Races by year
(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position, races in italics indicate fastest lap)
Grand Prix motorcycle racing
By season
| Season | Class | Motorcycle | Team | Race | Win | Podium | Pole | FLap | Pts | Plcd |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2018 | Moto3 | Honda | AP Honda Racing Thailand | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 33rd |
| 2019 | Moto2 | Kalex | Idemitsu Honda Team Asia | 16 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 23 | 21st |
| 2020 | Moto2 | Kalex | Idemitsu Honda Team Asia | 15 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 10 | 25th |
| 2021 | Moto2 | Kalex | Idemitsu Honda Team Asia | 17 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 37 | 18th |
| 2022 | Moto2 | Kalex | Idemitsu Honda Team Asia | 19 | 1 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 128 | 10th |
| 2023 | Moto2 | Kalex | Idemitsu Honda Team Asia | 20 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 173.5 | 6th |
| 2024 | Moto2 | Kalex | Idemitsu Honda Team Asia | 18 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 104 | 12th |
| 2025 | MotoGP | Honda | LCR Honda Idemitsu | 17 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 26th |
| Total | 123 | 2 | 6 | 2 | 3 | 489.5 | ||||
By class
| Class | Seasons | 1st GP | 1st pod | 1st win | Race | Win | Podiums | Pole | FLap | Pts | WChmp |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Moto3 | 2018 | 2018 Thailand | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 0 | ||
| Moto2 | 2019–2024 | 2019 Qatar | 2022 Indonesia | 2022 Indonesia | 105 | 2 | 6 | 2 | 3 | 475.5 | 0 |
| MotoGP | 2025 | 2025 Thailand | 17 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 0 | ||
| Total | 2018–2025 | 123 | 2 | 6 | 2 | 3 | 489.5 | 0 | |||
Races by year
(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in italics indicate fastest lap)
| Year | Class | Bike | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | Pos | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2018 | Moto3 | Honda | QAT | ARG | AME | SPA | FRA | ITA | CAT | NED | GER | CZE | AUT | GBR | RSM | ARA | THA 9 |
JPN | AUS | MAL | VAL | 33rd | 7 | |||
| 2019 | Moto2 | Kalex | QAT Ret |
ARG 10 |
AME 20 |
SPA 17 |
FRA Ret |
ITA | CAT 17 |
NED DNS |
GER | CZE 15 |
AUT 12 |
GBR 16 |
RSM 14 |
ARA 16 |
THA 9 |
JPN 13 |
AUS Ret |
MAL Ret |
VAL 23 |
21st | 23 | |||
| 2020 | Moto2 | Kalex | QAT 25 |
SPA Ret |
ANC Ret |
CZE 23 |
AUT 13 |
STY Ret |
RSM 18 |
EMI 21 |
CAT Ret |
FRA 9 |
ARA 23 |
TER 19 |
EUR Ret |
VAL 18 |
POR 18 |
25th | 10 | |||||||
| 2021 | Moto2 | Kalex | QAT Ret |
DOH 19 |
POR 21 |
SPA Ret |
FRA 12 |
ITA 18 |
CAT 9 |
GER 18 |
NED 11 |
STY 8 |
AUT 5 |
GBR 17 |
ARA Ret |
RSM Ret |
AME 14 |
EMI Ret |
ALR DSQ |
VAL 19 |
18th | 37 | ||||
| 2022 | Moto2 | Kalex | QAT DNS |
INA 1 |
ARG 2 |
AME Ret |
POR Ret |
SPA Ret |
FRA 3 |
ITA Ret |
CAT 12 |
GER 15 |
NED 13 |
GBR 13 |
AUT 2 |
RSM 8 |
ARA 7 |
JPN 5 |
THA Ret |
AUS 8 |
MAL Ret |
VAL Ret |
10th | 128 | ||
| 2023 | Moto2 | Kalex | POR 9 |
ARG 8 |
AME 11 |
SPA 7 |
FRA 6 |
ITA 9 |
GER 4 |
NED Ret |
GBR 9 |
AUT 5 |
CAT 14 |
RSM 6 |
IND Ret |
JPN 1 |
INA 7 |
AUS 7‡ |
THA 3 |
MAL 6 |
QAT 7 |
VAL 5 |
6th | 173.5 | ||
| 2024 | Moto2 | Kalex | QAT 11 |
POR 10 |
AME 21 |
SPA 10 |
FRA 5 |
CAT Ret |
ITA 9 |
NED 5 |
GER 6 |
GBR Ret |
AUT 8 |
ARA 6 |
RSM 14 |
EMI 14 |
INA Ret |
JPN | AUS | THA 4 |
MAL 9 |
SLD 10 |
12th | 104 | ||
| 2025 | MotoGP | Honda | THA 18 |
ARG 18 |
AME 16 |
QAT 18 |
SPA Ret |
FRA | GBR 19 |
ARA 16 |
ITA 18 |
NED 15 |
GER | CZE | AUT | HUN | CAT 16 |
RSM 15 |
JPN 15 |
INA 13 |
AUS 17 |
MAL 15 |
POR 17 |
VAL 17 |
26th | 7 |
‡ Half points awarded as less than half of the race distance (but at least three full laps) was completed.
Superbike World Championship
Races by season
| Season | Motorcycle | Team | Race | Win | Podium | Pole | FLap | Pts | Plcd |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | Honda CBR1000RR | Honda HRC | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0* | NC* |
| Total | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |||
Races by year
(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in italics indicate fastest lap)
| Year | Bike | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | Pos | Pts | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| R1 | SR | R2 | R1 | SR | R2 | R1 | SR | R2 | R1 | SR | R2 | R1 | SR | R2 | R1 | SR | R2 | R1 | SR | R2 | R1 | SR | R2 | R1 | SR | R2 | R1 | SR | R2 | R1 | SR | R2 | R1 | SR | R2 | ||||
| 2026 | Honda | AUS | AUS | AUS | POR | POR | POR | NED | NED | NED | HUN | HUN | HUN | CZE | CZE | CZE | ARA | ARA | ARA | EMI | EMI | EMI | GBR | GBR | GBR | FRA | FRA | FRA | ITA | ITA | ITA | POR | POR | POR | SPA | SPA | SPA | NC* | 0* |
