Carlos Ezpeleta, MotoGP sporting director, announced that the circuit of Montmeló is chosen to replace Valencia as the last race of the MotoGP World Championship after the cancellation of the Valencian Community Grand Prix by DANA. The storm that hit the capital of Turia left hundreds dead and destroyed access to the Cheste circuit, forcing the cancellation of the event that closed the championship.
“We thought it was important to warn the drivers before they hit the track yesterday.“, especially to those who were fighting for positions, to confirm that there would be another test on the calendar,” Ezpeleta began by saying. The dates will be the same as those on which the Valencia race was to take place. from November 15 to 17, with the MotoGP test on the 19th in Montmeló.
“These two days have been very complicated, much more for the Valencian Community, of course, but we believe that – given the situation in which the championship finds itself, from a sporting point of view, but also for fans around the world – We thought it was important to celebrate a season finale. We owe it to the paddock and to our fans,” admitted Ezpeleta.
After seeing the consequences of the DANA in Valencia, MotoGP canceled the Grand Prix and after studying all the options, they decided that the best thing was to carry it out in Barcelona: “We studied all the possibilities we had, It’s quite a challenge to organize an event in two weeksbut over the last 48 hours we have studied all possible alternatives and We think Barcelona is the best possible location given its proximity to Valencia.As many people were already traveling to the final, and especially for the fans, we think this is the best possible place for them. We also know that we will be able to help the Valencian Community from there,” the MotoGP sporting director told DAZN.
LATEST NEWS: Carlos Ezpeleta, MotoGP sporting director, confirms that the final round of the World Championship will take place in Barcelona 🚨
“We think it is possible to organize an event that will take place in Valencia”#MalaysiaGP 🇲🇾 #MotoGP 🏁 pic.twitter.com/MA3RjhsYgb
– DAZN Spain (@DAZN_ES) November 3, 2024
A race through Valencia
However, despite Ezpeleta’s statement, neither Circuit Barcelona Catalonia nor the organization have released an official statement. The World Cup sporting director confirmed that The government of Catalonia wants to speak with both the Spanish government and the Valencian government before confirming the test which will take place from November 15 to 17 in Montmeló, where this year Aleix Espargaró won in the sprint and Pecco Bagnaia in the long race, after falling on Saturday.
“That is why we asked the Government of Catalonia to be able to organize the event there. They wish to communicate and align with the Spanish and Valencian governments before confirming the event, and We hope confirmation will arrive within the next 48 hours. But the emergency at the moment is Valencia, not the confirmation of our GP,” he said.
“It is something that we can look forward to and once confirmed we will start working as much as possible, because it is undoubtedly a challenge, but we believe that we can do a lot of good and we think we owe it to our fans” added Carlos Ezpeleta who finally thanked the help and support of the MotoGP community: “We would like to thank the entire MotoGP community, the riders and the teams, for their proactivity, their help and their support.
