MotoGP has decided to not undertake the Valencia GP due to floods, with alternate venues being looked at for the season-finale.
MotoGP stands with the Community of Valencia following the devastating floods that have affected the area. Our hearts are with all those who have been lost and those who have lost so much. We have been in constant contact with the local authorities and the circuit to best assess how we can help and how we should proceed. We have a responsibility to every region where we race that goes far beyond the sport and the events.
After carefully weighing up the potential positive impact of MotoGP racing in Valencia on delayed dates versus ensuring no single resource is diverted from the recovery efforts by the presence of MotoGP, the championship and local authorities have been obliged to cancel the 2024 Valencia GP. In lieu of racing in Valencia, MotoGP will instead race for Valencia.
The championship will put our collective efforts behind backing the relief funds already in place to ensure our positive impact can connect with the area in the way it best serves the people and communities we have been part of for so long. Our efforts will begin during the Malaysian GP and continue at the final round of 2024, with a new venue and dates to be announced as soon as confirmed.
Fans around the world, our athletes, and paddock deserve a sporting finale to the 2024 season, and one that can make a key contribution to supporting the communities we race in. Any further information regarding the season finale will be confirmed as soon as possible.
What MotoGP riders said before –
Francesco Bangaia: “It depends on where it is held, because I don’t think it is fair in any case for it to be held in Valencia. I sincerely hope that they will take into consideration the fact that, on an ethical level and given what is happening, it is not the right thing to do. Even at the cost of losing my ultimate goal, which is to win the title, I am not prepared to race in Valencia. Racing there is like a party, it’s a moment to enjoy.
“Knowing the situation right now, that’s not correct. We have always been super respectful of what’s happening around the world. It could be wrong to race there. If it was my choice, I would prefer not to race there. What Dorna will decide will be good, but I think we have many more options we can try.”
Marc Marquez: “Of course, before taking a decision you need to evaluate all of the things – talking about Pecco’s decision. But this is one thing. But then in the other hand, I keep saying: thinking about a GP in two weeks, is no sense. No sense because it’s not only ‘no, we will help the economy’. It’s not about money. It’s about hands, it’s about time, it’s about people losing everything and you see the streets.
“Everything in Valencia is a disaster, it’s like a film. And people are living in the [circuit] facilities. So, it’s not a matter of money. Of course the money can help to bring back a normal life as soon as possible, everyone wants that. But the championship needs to understand many things. But as a human, as a Spanish person, I cannot think about realising a GP in two weeks there.”
Alex Marquez: “It’s not the time to think if there’ll be a GP or not. Now everything, all the facilities and all that, need to be with the people that are there, that don’t have a home, many lost. It’s difficult. It’s not easy for all the Spanish but especially for the Valencia people. Let’s see how it will be. But now we cannot just focus on the facilities of the track and everything. More important is the people that don’t have a home, who have lost family members, than whether we’ll have a GP there or not.
“Honestly speaking, to think that there will be a GP there in one week and a half is difficult. We need to be realistic and we need to be human. So… for me it’s not correct if we go there in one week and a half, if we try to put everything correct, [repair] the entry of the circuit and all that. More important things are there, and that’s the families, the people. Let’s see what they will do.”
Joan Mir: “We don’t have any information. The information that we have is it looks like we will go. This is what I heard. Personally I have my opinion about it. Every day the situation is getting worse, they [the local authorities] discover more chaos and, morally, to go there is not correct. But we have to know a bit all of the scenarios, we have to understand all. If we go there and the reality is we help the city, I agree completely to go. But if the reality is we go and we make some problems for the city and they stop doing things that are a lot more important than a racing weekend, then I’m not agree about going there. We need to see if we will go, if the decision is that we will go, because of course if we all have the same opinion we can propose something to them.
“If they listen or not, is not something that we can do so much. But if are all more united, we are stronger, and we can probably do something. Probably the safety commission today is important to understand if they say something. But a lot of times it happens that if there is a problem in one country and it was a problem quite important, that was for example Argentina and the situation they have, in many things, in Kazakhstan, and a couple of races before you go there you speak and ‘for sure you’ll go’. And probably they know that we will not go. But they do it for some reason. We can imagine why…”
Luca Marini: “I would like to send all my support to the families, to those working to try to come back to a good situation there. For sure they will need to have a strong winter there, will be tough for everybody. At the moment for sure MotoGP is on a secondary level. Dorna and IRTA will take a decision about the race, but I think going there is not the correct moment. It’s something that we lived also in first person in Emilia Romagna, what happened there last year and this year.
“It’s something that I really know very well, the situation, and it’s super dramatic for everybody that lives there. It’s not a matter of finding a place – finding a place is for me the easiest thing to do. But finding the correct place, then you also need to check with Michelin if we have [the correct] tyres or not… it’s not so easy. I think that they [MotoGP] are trying to find the best solution for everybody, but it’s a tough, tough job.”
Aleix Espargaro: “The images and videos that are arriving on social media are nothing [compared to reality]. I talked with some friends that are not living in Valencia but in some small village around Valencia, and they told me everything is super collapsed, everything destroyed, they have no houses, no cars. If we can give Valencia something back – I don’t know how, we can give our prize money for example – I would do it 100 percent. Or Dorna can find some way to help them. I don’t know. The situation is very complicated. Obviously right now I think it’s the less important thing, to go there and race. I’m thinking if we’re able to go there and race somehow, we have to help. Once again, it’s very difficult to judge. The situation is extremely complicated. I think that we don’t realise still how complicated the situation is in terms of number of people who lost their lives.
“It’s still super early. Hopefully I’m wrong but it looks like we’re going to double this number. So, to take the decision right now it seems very, very complicated. Once again, for Dorna it will be difficult to take the right decision. Hopefully the decision we take, we can somehow help Valencia. I’m not sure, but if we got to Barcelona somehow we have to help Valencia. Because if you go to Valencia, if you postpone the race, but if you go there you can give some money to the people there, to the hotels. To say you are not going there right now… I understand, I don’t want to go with this situation. But to say that you are not going there, also I don’t think you are helping them. So, very tricky decision.”
Maverick Vinales: “Our head is in Valencia. This is something catastrophic.”
[Note: The story is as per press release]
