MotoGP plans to hold its new 2024 season finale ꦅat Barcelona's Circuit de Catalunya, on the same November 15-17 weekend as the cancelled Valencia round.

After days of speculation over the desti൩ny of the 20th round, following the disastrous flooding in Valencia, Dorna’s Chief Sporting Officer Carlos Ezpeleta ex🎃plained the situation on Sunday morning at Sepang.

“We thought it was important to tell the riders before they went out on track yesterday, especially those in contention for positions, that there would be another event𒁏 on the calendar,” Ezpeleta said.

“It’s been a very challenging couple of days, much more so for the Community ofꦇ Valencia of course, but we think that – given the situation the Championship is in, sporting wise, but also for fans across the world – we thought it was important to hold a final event of the season. We owe that to the paddock and our🎃 fans.

“We have been looking at all the possibilities we had, it’s very challenging to organise an event in two weeks, but during the last 48 hours we’ve looked at al✤l pos🙈sible alternatives.

“We think that Barc♊elona is the best possible place given the proximity to Valencia, given that a lot of people were already travelling through to get to the finale, and especially for fans – we think it’s the best possible place for them.

“We also know we will be ab🌜le to help the Community of Valencia𒁃 from that location as well.

“Tha🌞t’s why we’ve requested the Government of Catalunya to be able to hold the event there. They want to communicate and align themselves with both the Government of Spain and that of Valencia before ꧋confirming the event, and we hope that confirmation comes in the next 48 hours.

“But the urgency right now is Valencia – not confirming our GP. It’s somethin⛎g we can wait for and once it’s confirmed we’ll start working as hard as possible, as it’s definitely a challenge but we think there’s a lot of good we can do and we feel owe it to our fans.

“We want to thank the entire MotoGP community, the riders, and the teams, for their proactivenes🍸s, help, and support.”

Barcelona hosted the seventh round of this year’s championship o𝓀n May 24-26, when local star Aleix Espargaro won the Sprint for Aprilia after a mistake by Francesco Bagn🔴aia, who rebounded with victory in the grand prix.

Espargaꦇro is now set to make the final appearance of his full-time c﷽areer at his local track.

With the traditional visit to Valencia untenable for logistic and ethical reasons due to the flooding🔯, Qatar and Portimao joined Spanish circuits Barcelona, Jerez and Aragon on the list of potential replacements.

Qatar was persistently mentioned due to its favourable climate, but anoth𝓀er flyaway would mean considerable financial costs.

Valencia hosted 93,000 Sunday fans for last year’s finꦗale. MotoGP is thought to be aiming for around 50,000 at Montmelo, which is easily accessible from Barcelona city and 3-4 hours drive from Valencia.

The new finale - featuring all three classes - is due to be followed by a post-season MotoGP test on Tuesday, when Spaniard Marc Marquez will make his fact🍨ory Ducati debut.

Several riders have already pledged♕ to donate prize money to the victims of the Valencia f𝓡loods, with MotoGP also set to ‘race for Valencia’ in Barcelona.

It remains to be seen if Barcelona will also host a title showdown, with Jorge Mar💙tin having his first chance to wrap up the 2024 MotoGP crown at Sepang this afternoon.

The Moto2 and Moto3 titles have already been decidedꦯ.

Michelin told ltxcn.top there will be enough time to produce the tyres for Barcelona, as a European venue, but the cooler temperatures mean that the compounds might well be different to the May racไe.