The 2024 MotoGP riders’ title will be decided this weekend as Jorge Martin and Francesco Bagnaia will battle for championship glory at Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya.
Pramac Ducați rider Martin leads his factory Ducati rival Bagnaia by 24 points meaning the Spaniard looks set to claim his maiden crown and stop the Italian’s run of two, straight titles.
But this weekend’s season finale was not always scheduled for Barcelona, as until 1 November MotoGP had intended on hosting the final race in its traditional location of Valencia.
So why did this change happen?
Why is the 2024 MotoGP season finale not in Valencia?
MotoGP was all set to host its 2024 season finale at Circuit Ricardo Tormo in Valencia until it was forced to cancel those plans due to flooding in the eastern Spain region.
Valencia was hit by a year’s worth of rainfall in the space of just eight hours on 29 October, which caused widespread devastation having killed over 200 people.
The access roads in and out of the circuit were completely damaged making it inaccessible via a vehicle, meaning it was practically impossible for the series to host its finale in Valencia.
In spite of that, MotoGP organisers were still initially keen on hosting the race at Circuit Ricardo Tormo because “if we don't race in Valencia, it will be worse for the Valencian Community and its economy,” FIM president Jorge Viegas told Sky Italia.
Carmelo Ezpeleta, CEO of Dorna who run the series, added by telling AS newspaper: “They are working to fix access and services, the track has not been damaged.”
But, many things suddenly unravelled from the moment it was announced MotoGP still wanted to visit Valencia. That included Bagnaia revealing he would boycott the season finale even if it meant losing out on a third MotoGP championship.
The 27-year-old stated “on an ethical level and with what is happening it is not the right thing to do”. A belief which was echoed by Martin and six-time champion Marc Marquez, who also thought the grand prix’s venue should change.
So with the potential of boycotts, especially from a title contender, MotoGP was left with very limited options and it soon cancelled the Valencian Grand Prix.
A statement from MotoGP read: ”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.”
The championship was still keen on helping the region though and supporting its recovery mission, while Moto3 champion David Alonso helped to clean up the circuit.
MotoGP’s statement added: “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.”
This saw a portion of ticket sales for the Barcelona GP go directly towards the Valencia relief funds, while this weekend will also feature three auctions - two at the track and one online.
The onsite auctions will be held in the fan zone from 4pm to 6pm local time on Friday and Saturday, where riders and other members of the MotoGP community will be on stage auctioning items donated from the paddock.
MotoGP is also helping Valencia by producing a #RacingForValencia t-shirt with all funds being donated to La Cruz Roja (Red Cross), who are on the ground helping the region to recover.
Why was Barcelona chosen as Valencia’s replacement for the 2024 MotoGP season finale?
Once it was announced that Valencia would no longer hold the season finale, two venues emerged as likely options for the replacement race: Qatar and Barcelona.
Barcelona was eventually chosen because it was the most popular option in the paddock. At this stage of the season, many teams, especially in Moto2 and Moto3, are on a tight budget and returning to Qatar, which hosted the opening round, would have been a substantial expense.
Although Qatar may have made sense from an emotional point of view, given its distance to Spain, there were just too many logistical problems. Especially when the Middle Eastern country is preparing to host a Formula 1 grand prix on 29 November - 1 December.
So with Barcelona still being in Spain, it was seen as the option which made the most sense. Barcelona is also a regular feature of the MotoGP calendar, with the Catalan GP having made its debut in 1996.
It was round six of the 2024 season and Bagnaia claimed his third grand prix victory of the year, something that was dubbed as ‘redemption’ given he crashed whilst leading the sprint race on the final lap.
Bagnaia started in second but took the lead from Aleix Espargaro early on, before Martin overtook the Italian on lap five. Yet the two-time champion re-gained top spot on lap 19 of 24 to eventually reel away and win by 1.7seconds.
When was the last time Valencia did not host the MotoGP season finale?
Valencia has traditionally been the final race of a campaign, having held every season finale since the MotoGP era began in 2002 bar the COVID-struck 2020 campaign.
The 2020 season featured a heavily revised calendar with 14 grands prix in the space of four months in which Valencia held the second and third-to-last rounds of the year.
In its place as the final race was Portimao, which made its debut on the MotoGP calendar for the first Portuguese GP since 2012 - held at Estoril.
Portimao has since been in every MotoGP season, it hosted round two in 2024, and in 2020 Tech3’s Miguel Oliveira won from pole on his KTM while Joan Mir, who clinched the title at the penultimate round, retired with an electronics fault on lap 15 of 25.
Before the MotoGP era began, however, the venue of the world championship’s season finale altered most years. Jacarepagua in Rio de Janeiro hosted the last round in 2001, where Valentino Rossi won to finish a dominant first championship-winning campaign, while in 2000 it was Phillip Island and 1999, the year the Valencian GP debuted, had Buenos Aires complete the season.
