In recent days, the southeastern region of Spain has experienced a period of heavy rain, causing devastating floods. Between the catastrophic human toll and the totally destroyed homes, Dorna, organizer of the MotoGP world championship, decided to cancel the last stage, which was to be held in Valencia. Due to ethics and respect for the victims, the race will not take place on the Ricardo Tormo route. Two weeks before the grand final, between Jorge Martin and Francesco Bagnaia, the sporting director of Dorna, Carlos Ezpeleta, spoke during the meeting in Malaysia. According to his words, the paddock should therefore go to Barcelona, to the Catalunya circuit, in order to decide between the two contenders for the world crown.
A GP that is not unanimous
At this precise moment, the announcement of the replacement of the Valencia GP has not yet been made, it should not take long in the next 24 hours, still kept on November 17. But that doesn't satisfy everyone. The official Ducati riders, Pecco Bagnaia and Enea Bastianini, showed their dissatisfaction. Driving 400 km from disasters would be “not right” according to the two men.
“For me, it's not right to race in Spain, but that's how it is, it's Dorna's choice. The fact that we are racing in Spain after what happened, I don't find it very good. I don't agree 100%, but obviously those who made this decision did so because it was the only solution. So I think we have to adapt. I continue to say that running in Spain is still not great. But at least we won't be in Valencia, where we must remember that the situation continues to get worse. We don’t forget that, so it’s right to run elsewhere, even if it’s a shame.”
Still according to the double reigning champion, the track conditions at Montmelo would not be optimal, compared to the last race, in May.
“It will be tricky. Conditions will be more difficult than in [mai] because it will be cold and there are two corners in Barcelona which are quite tricky, namely 2 and 5. We adapt to everything all the time. I perform better in Barcelona, normally. But it is also a trickier track where mistakes are very easy. You have to be very precise.”
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In Brief
Last weekend at the Malaysian GP, Dorna made a big decision regarding the MotoGP World Championship finale. While the Valencia region is underwater, the outcome of this 2024 campaign should occur in Barcelona.
